The Azure Flame of Remnant
by AlphaPheonix
Summary: After her defeat at the hands of Katara, Azula, former Fire Princess of the Fire Nation, unexpectedly saves her brother from certain death. Seeing her action as a sign of redemption, Agni, the Spirit of Fire, sends Azula to the world of Remnant to act as it's Guardian and Champion, much like the Avatar in her world. (Azulax?)
1. A Second Chance

Azula stared up at her opponents, her brother, Zuko, and the water tribe girl, Katara. She'd recently fought them both in an Agni Kai. Though victorious against her brother, using his newfound compassion against him as she aimed a lightning bolt at Katara, the waterbender had bested her in the end. Her mind already broken, Azula wept for minutes. Visions of her long lost mother plaguing her mind as her strive for perfection, beaten into her by her father at an early age, and the stress of living up to her father's former role of Fire Lord while he became the Phoenix King had driven her to the brink with her defeat finally pushing her over the edge.

"She's broken," said Zuko. "I don't think there's anything left of her mind." As she silently watched her opponents, a glint of light caught her gaze. She glanced on a nearby rooftop and spotted a man loyal only to her father aiming an arrow at her brother with another palmed, more than likely for her hated rival, Katara. Azula did not know what came over her. What possessed her to do what she did. She heated her hands, hiding a wince as the molten metal melted around her wrists. She slowly sat up as her brother and rival turned to leave her where they'd left her. Azula spotted the archer loose an arrow and ran at full speed. She pushed her brother to the ground. Katara turned to her, believing her to be trying to attack them again only to pause as Azula took an arrow to the chest.

The former Fire Princess growled and blasted large stream of blue fire from her fist as the man loosed the second arrow in surprise as the flames consumed him. Azula stumbled as the now flaming arrow joined its twin in her chest. "Azula!" Zuko ran to his sister as she collapsed, gasping. "Why did you do that?!"

"I… I don't know…"

"Katara! Do something!" Azula slapped her rival's hands away from her.

"Y-you will do no such thing! I-I w-will not rot in s-some cell! I'd rather die!" Azula grunted in pain as she felt the arrows puncture her lungs. Azula coughed up blood as it filled her lungs. All sound started fading to her and her vision slowly started turning black. She soon found herself not lying in her brother's arms but standing in a familiar place. The gardens of the Fire Palace where she spent some days in her childhood with Ty Lee and Mai teasing Zuko as they grew up.

"Azula," asked a familiar voice behind her. Azula turned around and spotted a face she hadn't seen since she was a child.

"Lu Ten?"

"What are you…? No…."

"Is this another hallucination? No, I definitely remember being shot by a few arrows. And my mind seems clearer than it has been in the last few weeks." Azula sighed as she came to the only conclusion she could think of. "So I'm dead. I see."

"Azula. I'm so sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about. I knew what may happen to me when I followed father's orders. Being the Fire Lord comes with its fair share of enemies. Though I thought I'd at least last a decade before someone tried to kill me."

"Who did kill you?"

"A man loyal to father. Truth be told, he was trying to kill Zuzu. And I, against my better judgement, saved his life. I still do not know why I did that. Just a few moments earlier, I was trying to kill him."

"You what?! Why?!"

"He sided with the Avatar. Before that he disgraced himself in front of father and the generals of the Fire Nation Army. Zuzu was a failure and a disgrace to the Fire Nation!"

"He is your brother!"

"And that means he's anything more than what I've called him? He was weak! As were you."

"Do you know how I died, Azula?"

"You were killied in battle."

"I died saving an enemy soldier from our side."

"Why on earth would you do that?"

"He was injured and one of my men was going to kill him rather than take him in alive. He was defeated. He didn't deserve death."

"He was an enemy of the Fire Nation!"

"That doesn't justify death, Azula."

"Your cousin speaks truth, Azula," said a voice behind her. Azula turned around and found a woman with her mother's face and flowing red hair.

"Mother," Azula exclaimed.

"Not quite. I've merely adopted her appearance to give you a familiar and friendly face to speak to."

"Friendly face." Azula scoffed. "I hated my mother."

"If you truly hated her, she wouldn't have appeared as the form of your conscious and reasoning. The hallucinations you'd been seeing the last few weeks."

"What do you know?!"

"I am Agni. Spirit of Fire and protector of the Fire Nation and it's children."

"Why should I care?"

"Because I'm giving you what most never get in their afterlife. A second chance."

"Why?"

"Because of your last actions. You saved your brother."

"No doubt a manipulation of your kind. A trick to make me do something I wouldn't normally do."

"Azula," cautioned Lu Ten. "She's a spirit. Show some respect."

"It is fine, Lu Ten," said Agni. "We spirits are used to disbelief from those who pass over to our world."

"Why take an interest in me," asked Azula. "One act of selflessness and you spirits consider it a change of heart? Make no mistake, I am still Princess Azula! Rightful Fire Lord and ruthless leader of its military forces! One act of kindness…"

"Means you're not completely like your father. Had your life continued passed this moment, you would have spent many days within a cell, having your mind treated after your breakdown. You also would've recovered and found a new sense of duty, protecting the Fire Nation from the shadows and defending your brother's reign as he, alongside the Avatar, restored balance to the world once more."

"And now that I am dead?"

"A new destiny awaits you. One in another world."

"And what is to become of this one?"

"See for yourself." Agni gestured to the koi pond beside her. Azula looked within and saw her brother, much older and wizened leading the Fire Nation with the Avatar as a dear friend. Upon the Avatar's passing, a new Avatar is born, a small girl from the Southern Water Tribe. Azula watched with piqued interest as the new Avatar, Korra, grew up to be an overconfident brat, tempered only by the former Avatar's son. She watched her many trials. Victories and defeats. Mistakes and corrections.

"She seems rather skilled."

"She will be. These events have yet to happen. Your brother will have a role to play. Though he will face many challenges himself, without you working from the shadows, he will find another way to overcome those who oppose him and Avatar Aang."

"You mentioned a new destiny. What is it?"

"Another world is in need of a guardian. This world, abandoned by its gods and beset by a force of darkness. It is well beyond our reach to influence. But resurrection can bring them a champion."

"And this champion is supposed to be me? I'd make a much more fitting conqueror than a champion."

"You'll find conquering this world easier said than done. Their technology far exceeds that of the Fire Nation."

"I highly doubt that. Our technology is what allowed us to wipe out the Air Nomads, after all."

"You will truly be in for a surprise, Azula." Agni waved her hand and Azula found herself falling, her cousin's troubled face the last thing she saw before she was cast into darkness.

* * *

Azula groaned as she found herself on a grassy field and looked around. She saw she was in an unfamiliar forest baring red trees. Far away on a clifftop overlooking the forest. A man with white hair and wearing a dark green suit stood next to a woman with blonde hair tied into a braid, wearing glasses and a white blouse and black skirt with a black and purple cape. He sipped a coffee mug in his hand as she looked at a tablet in hers. "Professor Ozpin," she said.

"Hmm," Ozpin replied.

"Someone else is down there with the students."

"Oh?" Ozpin took the tablet from her and observed what she did. A girl with black and gold armor over red garments rose on the video feed they were observing. "Now who is she, I wonder."

Azula looked around and heard no wildlife around. "Odd. Normally I'd at least hear a bird." A growling caught her attention. She turned to it and saw an unusual beast she'd never laid eyes on before. It resembled a wolf with black fur. It stood taller than her and had what seemed like bone on it's back and face. It growled at her and advanced. Azula stood her ground, unimpressed. "What are you? You're certainly not something I've ever seen before." It slashed its large claws at her. Azula dove under them and faced the beast. "You dare strike at me?!" Azula sent a stream of fire at the beast, burning half of its body.

It howled in the air and more of its kind came to its call. Azula frowned, annoyed by the addition of the beasts. At once they pounced at her. Azula stood her ground and sent blasts of flame at each beast, knocking them out of the air. One stayed on the ground and watched her. It was larger than the others, the bone on its back protruding into spikes as it snarled at its unusual prey. "You must be the alpha. Disposing of you should make sure the rest of these mongrels submit to me." Azula took a stance and charged lightning at her fingertips. The alpha snarled and charged at her. Azula grinned wickedly and shot the lightning straight at its heart, burning a hole right through its chest. Rather than submit at the death of their alpha, the rest of the beasts charged her at once. Azula frowned and formed daggers of fire in her hands as they got close.

Azula ducked under the claws of one and slashed at the hindlegs of another. She stabbed one of her blue fire daggers into a third's head and kicked away a fourth. The first tried once more to slash her with its claws as the last one attempted to take a bite out of her shoulder. It clamped down on her shoulder guard and ripped it off of her as she burned the first beast. Azula shot flames from her feet and lifted herself off of the ground and above the last three beasts. Azula fired an intense stream of blue fire at two of the beasts before slamming her boots down on the last one, snapping its neck. To her surprise, the corpses seemed to turn to ash around her, even the ones she didn't burn completely to a crisp.

"Oh! My! God," shouted a girl nearby. Azula turned around and jumped in surprise as a girl the same age as her with short dark red hair and in a black and red outfit with a red hooded cape, sped in front of her. "How did you do that?! Can I do that?! Was that your semblance?!"

"Ruby," called another girl as she walked into the clearing. "Do not leave me like that!" Azula saw she wore a white outfit and kept her hair in a ponytail that hung off to her side. "Who is that? I don't remember her from the launch site."

"Did you see what she did?!"

"The whole forest could see it. Where on Remnant did you find blue fire dust?!"

"Dust," asked Azula.

Back on the cliff, Ozpin and his companion watched the feed with intrigue. "Impressive," said Ozpin.

"How on earth did she do that," asked the woman, Glynda Goodwitch.

"I'm not entirely sure. She's not a maiden, that much we know. But she is exceptionally skillful."

"What should we do with her?"

"For now, we watch. When the tests are done, we recruit her."

"Ozpin, you can't be serious."

"Now, Glynda. You've seen what she can do. Power over fire and lightning. She could prove to be a valuable addition to Beacon."

"Ozpin…"

"I know what I'm doing, Glynda." Glynda sighed and adjusted her glasses.

Azula stared at the girl in front of her, now named Ruby. Her personality reminded her of Ty Lee. The mere thought of her former best friend igniting the familiar feeling of betrayal. Azula growled softly before schooling her features. "Hey," said Ruby. "Do you know where the ruins are? Me and Weiss are kind of… lost."

"You're lost," said Weiss. "You're the one who was leading the way!"

"And you were the fool who followed her," said Azula. "If you could have done a better job, you should have taken charge in the first place."

"Why you…"

"Uh, guys," said Ruby timidly. "Can we please not fight? We're going to attract more Grimm." Weiss scoffed in annoyance and agreement.

"Fine." Azula said nothing and turned to Ruby.

"If you're searching for something, perhaps a bird's eye view would help," she said.

"How would a bird help," asked Ruby.

"She means we get to a high spot and look around, you dolt," said Weiss.

"Uh… I knew that…"

"Clearly you didn't."

"Please stop yelling," said Azula. "I find your voice obnoxious."

"Well I find your voice… unpleasant."

"Leave the insults to the experienced. Don't want to make yourself look like an even bigger fool than you already have."

"Urgh!" Ruby looked between both girls before spotting something in the trees and smiling.

"Guys," she exclaimed. "Follow me!"

"Where are you going?!"

"Perhaps up that tree she's obviously running to," said Azula as she followed after them. Azula followed them up the tree and stared at the black mass that was lying on top of the treetop.

"Ruby, this is a terrible idea!"

"Hold on," Ruby exclaimed. Azula watched as Ruby reached behind her back and pulled out a small instrument before flipping it into a scythe. She spotted Weiss grab onto the black mass which was now identified as feathers.

"Crap." She grabbed onto the feathers as well as Ruby grabbed hold as well and poked the tip of the scythe at the black mass. Azula hung on for dear life as the giant black bird with a white mask like the wolves before took off.

"Ruby," shouted Weiss after a few minutes of the giant bird flying at high speeds. Azula and Ruby both looked at her as they struggled to hold on. "I told you this was a terrible idea!"

"We're fine," Ruby shouted back. "Stop worrying!"

"I am so far beyond worrying!"

"In a good way?!"

"What about this situation makes you think this would qualify as a good way," shouted Azula.

"Well why don't we just jump!"

"What are you," asked Weiss. "Insane?!" Azula watched as Ruby let go of the bird and dropped. "Oh you insufferable, little red…" Azula couldn't hear the rest as the feathers she was holding onto flew off the bird and she started falling. She saw how high up they were and shot flames from her feet as she heard Ruby yelling below her and Weiss yelling above. She saw Ruby get hit by another person and into the tree line. She turned back to the giant bird and saw it flying lower as it smelled prey.

"Let go," shouted Azula.

"You're as insane as she is!"

"Fine! Stay on that bird and be potential feed for it!" Azula slowed her descent as she drifted towards the ruins as a girl with red hair and a pink and white outfit rode in at the same time on a bear with the same bone mask as the bird and wolves.

"Did she just drift down with flames coming out of her feet," asked a girl with long black hair, a black and white outfit and a black bow on her head.

"I…" said the blonde in the tan and yellow outfit that showed off her assets. She watched as bear girl ran over and selected a strange figure from one of the pillars among the ruins. Azula didn't know the significance of the figures and so ignored them as the girl ran off to a boy wearing a green outfit. Mere seconds later, a giant black and white scorpion chased another red haired girl with crimson and gold armor out of the forest. She barely made out the new girl calling out a name and a boy's voice calling from where Ruby had flown off to. Not long after, said girl jumped over to the rest of them. "Ruby?!"

"Yang," exclaimed Ruby as she went to hug her as the bear girl appeared between them.

"Nora," she exclaimed. Azula shook her head and looked around for any more potential threats as the black haired girl turned to them, nodding to the second red head.

"Did she just run all the way here with a Deathstalker on her tail?" the blonde, now named Yang, growled.

"I can't take it anymore!" Azula found herself impressed as the girl's hair seemed to catch fire as she got angry. "Can everyone chill out for just two seconds before something crazy happens again?!"

"I don't chill out," said Azula as she caught the girl running from the now dubbed Deathstalker.

"Thank you," she said.

"Um," said Ruby. "Yang." Azula turned to her and saw her looking up. Azula followed her gaze and spotted the giant bird they'd flown in on had descended lower in the sky, Weiss still hanging on for dear life now from the bird's giant talon.

"How could you leave me," exclaimed Weiss, close to tears.

"You said you weren't going to jump," muttered Azula.

"She's gonna fall," said the girl in black.

"She'll be fine," said Ruby.

"She's falling," said the boy in green. Azula sighed and took off into the air. She caught Weiss above the tree line as a blonde boy dove for her only to miss because of Azula and plummet to the ground. Azula lowered them to the ground and Weiss blushed at the way she was being held.

"You can let me down now," she said as Azula landed. Azula set her down and she landed on the back of the boy.

"Ow," he groaned. Azula picked him up and pushed him to the group, keeping an eye on both the Deathstalker and the giant bird. Azula took appraisal of the people she was with as Yang spoke up.

"Great," she said. "The gang's all here! Now we can all die together!"

"Not if I can help it," said Ruby as she unfolded her weapon.

"Ruby, wait!" Azula watched her ally held the scythe behind her. A loud bang emitted from the weapon and Azula noticed the pillar beside her suddenly sporting a now hole as Ruby was propelled forward. Her initial strike was blocked by one of the giant pincers knocking her away.

"Don't worry! Totally fine!"

"She doesn't sound too sure of herself," said Azula. She watched the Deathstalker close in on Ruby who aimed the top of her scythe at it's head. Azula heard another loud bang and saw sparks fly off its armor as Ruby was knocked back slightly before running away and folding the weapon back up before returning it to its place behind her cape.

"Ruby," shouted Yang as she ran towards the younger girl. A loud screech brought Azula's attention to the bird. It screeched once more before shooting its massive feathers at Ruby.

"Ruby," she found herself calling. "Watch out!" One of the feathers snagged Ruby's cape to the ground and Yang backed up to avoid getting hit by the feathers. Azula, for the second time in her life, found herself rushing forward to save someone as she saw the Deathstalker preparing to impale Ruby with its golden tail. She propelled herself forward with her flames as she spotted Weiss, out of the corner of her eye, rushing forward as well, strange white glowing circles appearing beneath her feet as she did. Both got there and Azula saw Weiss stab her thin sword into the ground, causing ice to form a wall between them and the Deathstalker, trapping its tail.

"You are _so_ childish," exclaimed Weiss.

"Weiss," asked Ruby as she looked up.

"And dimwitted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style. And I suppose… I can be a bit…"

"Of a fool yourself," asked Azula.

"Difficult…" She gave Azula a look but softened her gaze slightly. "But if we're going to do this. We're going to have to do this together."

"Wise words." Azula turned to the Deathstalker and stared into its eyes. Normally, animals cowered away from her in fear as she stared them down. But the Deathstalker didn't seem to know fear as it struggled to get free of the ice wall.

"So if you quit trying to show off…" She turned to Azula. "And you can stop insulting me from now on…" She turned to Ruby. "I'll be… nicer…"

"I'm not trying to show off," said Ruby. "I want you to know I can do this."

"Then don't rush off alone," said Azula. "That will the very thing that gets you killed." Weiss gave her a look before returning her gaze to Ruby.

"You're fine." Weiss started walking away. Azula turned to the Deathstalker as the feathers turned to ash just as the wolves did previously.

"Whoa…" said Ruby as they stared at the giant scorpion.

"I wonder if it can be tamed," said Azula.

"Why would you tame it?"

"For intimidation." They turned around as they heard running footsteps. Yang got to them and pulled Ruby into a hug.

"I'm so happy you're ok," she exclaimed. More screeching brought their attention to the sky.

"She won't be for long is we don't do anything," said Azula. "Regroup with the others!" She turned to the Deathstalker as it tried once more to get free. She sent a stream of fire to its face, burning half of its eyes and scorching the bone carapace before following after Ruby and Yang.

"Guys," shouted the blonde boy from the tree. "That thing is circling back!"

"Then we kill it, and the Deathstalker."

"Look," said Weiss. We don't have time for dilly dallying. Our objective is right in front of us."

"She's right," said Ruby. "Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs." Azula turned to the smaller pillars and looked at each one before selecting one at the same time as Ruby and the boy. She turned it over in her hand before stuffing it in a pouch at her hip. Azula saw the ice Weiss had formed starting to crack.

"Time we left," said the boy in green.

"Right. Let's go!" Azula turned to the girl the Deathstalker was originally after.

"You, girl with the shield and spear. Cover the flank! Anyone else with a shield, stay by her side!" She turned to Weiss. "Ready to make more ice, Fool?"

"As long as you're ready to conjure more flames, bitch." Azula grinned and formed ball of flame in her hands.

"Always." As one, the group took off. She looked behind her at Yang and the girl in black. "Stop lagging behind or I'll feed you two to them myself!" They ran to a grouping of larger ruins and hid behind cover. Azula spotted the giant bird land on a crumbling tower in the middle of a large canyon.

"Well that's great," exclaimed Yang. Azula heard the sound of crashing trees and spotted the Deathstalker tailing them.

"And that's just perfect."

"Aw man," exclaimed the blonde boy. "Run!" they moved up behind the next set of giant pillars, getting some protection from both sides.

"Nora," said the boy in green as the bird took off again. "Distract it!" Azula ignited the grass between them and the scorpion, buying them some time as Nora skillfully evaded the bird's feathers, a strange weapon in her hands. Three consecutive bangs could be heard as Azula watched three projectiles launch from the weapon and explode against the bird. At the same time, the Deathstalker charged through the flames and lunged at her and Nora. The boy in green and girl in black held it off by landing strikes against its head. Weiss landed beside them and grabbed hold of Nora before a white circle appeared at their feet. She jumped forward and Azula propelled herself with flames, noting she was moving faster than normal.

Azula winced as more loud noises filled the canyon as Shield Girl's spear also emitted loud bangs, more sparks coming off of the carapace They ran across the old stone bridge and Azula spotted the bird circling back around. "Everyone," she shouted. "Stay down!" Azula charged up lightning in her fingertips before sending a blast of it at the bird! It screeched as it singed its wing while it flew under it. "Dammit!" Azula launched herself into the air as it slammed itself into the bridge. She landed on its back and dug in with fire daggers. "Why must you be so difficult! Just die!" She grunted as she was flung off and landed on the cliffs above. She growled and sent a stream of flames at its head.

Ozpin watched as the group fought off both Grimm on his tablet. The mysterious girl was proving to be an experienced leader and capable fighter, as was Ruby Rose as she led the fight against the Nevermore. He nodded as he spotted Jaune Arc, the student he knew forged his transcripts to get into the school, take charge as well. Directing Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren against the Deathstalker. "What did I tell you Glynda?" Glynda said nothing as she watched the ensuing battle.

Azula kept an onslaught of flames going each time the bird got near the cliff, limiting its flight path to one side of the canyon only as it avoided getting burned. "Weiss," she called down into the canyon. "Can you keep it in place?!"

"I can try," she yelled back. You guys keep it distracted!" Azula built up a charge again as Ruby and Yang acted as bait for the bird Weiss managed to trap a portion of its tail in ice when it got close enough and Azula sent out another bolt of lightning. It managed to puncture its wings, making it screech in pain. Azula gave a sadistic grin at the sound as it broke free and flew at a slower speed. More bangs echoed in the canyon as Ruby and the others used their odd weapons, Weiss' shooting streams of whatever made the ice at the bird. Azula sent a massive fireball to aid the onslaught and switched things up by sending the occasional fireball at the Deathstalker.

She watched as it flew into the tower Ruby and the others were standing on. They showed remarkable agility as they ran off a falling slab of stone and found their way back to stable ground. Azula and Yang both hit the bird on the front and back with fire and explosives simultaneously. "Hey," called Ruby. "Blue fire girl! We have a plan!"

"Execute it then," Azula shouted back.

"Hey," called the blonde boy. "We could use some lightning here!" Azula looked at the Deathstalker group and saw the spear sticking out of one of its remaining eyes. Azula grinned sadistically and charged up one last bolt before unleashing it at the metal weapon. The Deathstalker screeched as it pulled the spear out and threw it behind itself. The group fighting it ran passed as Nora slammed it with her now giant hammer and sent it falling down into the canyon. Azula looked down and spotted the bird land on a building built into the cliff she was standing on directly below her. She sent down a massive stream of fire, pinning it down long enough for Weiss to once again trap its tail. She smirked as she saw Ruby being flung towards it with a makeshift sling shot before running up the wall, dragging the bird along the cliff with the blade of her scythe. Azula fell passed them and flew upwards, giving Ruby an even bigger boost of speed. The bird's body caught on the cliff and Ruby and Azula decapitated it before landing back where Azula had been standing for the last few minutes of the fight.

Azula and Ruby stood on the edge of the cliff, watching the bird's corpse fall down to the hidden depths. Azula tucker a hair back into place and composed herself. "Now that that's settled with, how do we get them out of there? I don't suppose your scythe can turn into a fifty foot rope?" Ruby chuckled nervously until she spotted a Bullhead coming and smiled.

"There's our ride!" Azula turned around and gaped at the vehicle. It was smaller than her father's zeppelin and moved faster than anything she'd ever seen created by the Fire Nation.

"Spirits…"

"Come on," said Ruby as she ran for the Bullhead. "Let's get back to school!" Azula followed after her, for once surprised. To think someone was able to make this. She was impressed to say the least. After picking up the others, everyone started congratulating each other. "Oh man! You were so cool, Yang! The way you shot into the Nevermore's mouth!"

"You were cooler," said the blonde boy, who Azula now knew as Jaune. "Running up that cliff and slicing its head off?! That was insane!"

"We all have to agree though," said Nora. "That the coolest thing was definitely the lightning and blue flames! I've never seen anything like that before! You were awesome!" Nora turned to Azula before blinking. "Uh… whatever your name is."

"Oh yeah," said Ruby as she turned to her as well. "We never got your name, did we?" Azula looked at everyone and saw they were staring at her expectantly. She sighed.

"My name is Azula. Azula… Agni." Ruby smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Azula!" The former Fire Princess turned away from everyone, opting to stare out of the window as they flew to… whatever this school was Ruby mentioned.

Ozpin sat in his own Bullhead, watching the feed of the students and mystery girl as they chatted away on their Bullhead. He zoomed in on Azula's face and hummed in interest. "Azula Agni. Where on Remnant did you come from?"

* * *

**(Author's Notes)**

**Ever get an idea in your head and you just can't get to sleep until you write it out and make sure you know you have it down so you don't forget about it? Then you know how I felt tonight. This concept popped into my head yesterday and here I am at 1 in the morning typing it out so I don't lose my train of thought. If you guys like it, I'll continue this story at my discretion. If not, it'll be updated probably once every other month or so. Let me know what you guys thought of this in the reviews. Until next time, Y'all!**


	2. Meeting the Headmaster

Azula ignored everyone else as she watched the building they were approaching. Not even the Fire Nation had been able to construct something so enormous. The spire of the building stretched almost to the clouds and seemed to have a working clockface. "Everything ok, Azula," asked Ruby. Azula realized she was staring at the building with a look of awe and closed her slightly open mouth and turned to her.

"Perfectly fine," said the Firebender.

"But you were just…"

"I said I'm fine. Now leave me alone." Ruby frowned slightly. They worked so well together during the exam. But now Azula seemed closed off. Reserved. Ruby had hoped to get to know the girl better, especially considering they both seemed to be the same age. They were the youngest girls in Beacon. Sure, she had her sister, but other than that she really didn't have anyone else to talk to. Well, there was Weiss. But she doubted that Weiss wanted to speak with her all too much. As they landed, Azula watched as a woman with blonde hair an odd looking outfit and carrying a rider's crop.

"Good work you nine. You're the last ones to make it back. Miss Agni." Azula turned to her, surprised. She had no idea how they learned of the name she'd just given herself, but now she was on edge. They managed to spy on them in such a small space. If that was the case, just how long were they watching them? Since her arrival? Since they started fighting the Deathstalker and Nevermore? "If you'll please follow me. Professor Ozpin wishes to see you before we get to the entrance ceremony." Azula said nothing and followed after the woman. She was led inside the building and toward what seemed to be a cramped room. She warily entered it beside the woman, ready to her way out if need be. She was not ready, however, for the room to seemingly start to move as he footing buckled slightly at the sudden motion.

After a few minutes, they came to a stop and the doors in front of them opened. She followed the woman out and found herself in a large room on the opposite side of the giant clock she'd seen on the flight to the school. She glanced back at the elevator, wondering just how fast they'd been moving. _'It seems the spirits were telling the truth about their technology,'_ she thought to herself. She looked forward and spotted a man with white hair wearing a dark green outfit and a calm and observing demeanor. One she'd seen so many times in her uncle, Iroh.

"Hello, Miss Agni. First of all, I'd like to say: Welcome to Beacon. Glynda, would you be so kind as to retrieve a glass of water for our new student?" Glynda gave him a look but nodded and left the room. Azula watched her leave before turning back to the odd man. "Please, Azula. Take a seat." Reluctantly, Azula sat down, keeping her eyes on Ozpin the entire time. Something about him made her feel uneasy. His age didn't seem to be as old as her uncle's, yet he seemed… older. Far older than he should be. "What do you think of Beacon Academy, Miss Agni?"

"…It's certainly an impressive work of craftsmanship."

"I suppose it is. Tell me, Miss Agni. How did you end up in the forest?"

"I wandered in there."

"And suddenly decided to take a nap in the middle of Grimm infested territory?" _'So those creatures are called Grimm,'_ thought Azula.

"I'm a very light sleeper."

"I'm sure. Then, can you explain what this was?" Ozpin pulled out what seemed to be a slab of glass to Azula. He tapped on it a few times and turned it to her. Azula watched with wide eyes as she saw vines, embers, and water droplets gather on the ground. The vines encircled the embers and water droplets before they formed a familiar shape. Hers. She watched as her naked form was swallowed by the earth before rising once more, her armor and clothes now donning her body. She turned her gaze to the man and saw a small smile on his face. "Care to try again?" Azula clenched her fists and sighed.

"Fine. But only since I can't fully explain that without revealing who I am and where I came from. I must warn you though. This will take some time to explain."

"Feel free to take as long as you need, Miss Agni. The Introduction ceremony won't start for another hour." Azula nodded and proceeded to tell Professor Ozpin about her world, her life, and her death. For his part, Ozpin listened to her tale with fascination. He was aware of the gods of light and darkness who had formed Remnant before it was even known as such, he'd even met them at least once. To hear of an entire dimension home to countless similar beings was of no surprise to him. What was a surprise was the knowledge that unlike his gods, the spirits directly influenced Azula's world and even taught them the art of Bending through beasts like dragons and the mysterious flying bison, an abnormality of any world.

"This Bending. That's what you used against the Grimm, correct?"

"Yes. I am a Firebender."

"Is it possible for you to learn the other Bending forms?" Azula snorted in amusement.

"I'm no Avatar."

"Avatar?"

"A person who's soul is reincarnated in every generation to preserve the balance of the world. The Avatar is the only being who can bend all four elements."

"So it's not possible for someone, say Miss Rose, to learn Bending."

"Miss Rose?"

"Ruby. I believe you met her in the forest and worked together with her sister, Yang, and the others as well."

"I see. To answer your question, no. In order to learn Bending, you need to either be blessed by the spirits later in life or be born with the affinity for Bending. Even then, it takes years to fully master a Bending form, much like basic martial arts. I was one of the few both born with the ability to Bend and blessed by the spirits to master it at a very young age. My flames are a direct indication of that. Blue flames have never been heard of before I mastered my Firebending and started Bending lightning."

"No other person?"

"No."

"Interesting…" Glynda returned then and handed Azula the glass of water.

"Thank you." Glynda nodded and stood next to Ozpin.

"Now then, Miss Agni. What do you say about attending Beacon?"

"Why should I join your school?"

"Truth be told? Your skills would be better off defending people against the Grimm rather than burning your enemies to a crisp. Here at Beacon, we train the next generation of Hunters and Huntresses."

"And these people fight those creatures. The Grimm?"

"They do. And ensure the safety of the Kingdoms of Remnant. Vale, Atlas, Vacuo, Mistral."

"And where exactly are we?"

"Beacon Academy is located in the Kingdom of Vale," said Glynda, having heard Azula's story from the doorway. She herself was astounded at the idea of other worlds besides this one and wished she could study them to see the differences between both worlds. "The central nation of the Four Kingdoms."

"I assume you heard my tale from the doorway? I heard it slightly open before pausing."

"You heard that?"

"I was the Princes of the Fire Nation. My life was constantly in danger. Father assured my senses were keenly honed to detect an attack. Though my ears are still slightly ringing from those damned weapons the others were using."

"Firearms," said Ozpin. "Projectile weaponry using Dust to propel small projectiles at a faster speed than the arrows you're used to seeing. Another name for firearms is guns. With the advances in technology, they've become a norm among Hunters, Huntresses, and the militaries of Remnant."

"Must they be so damn loud?"

"They can be modified to limit their sound," said Glynda. "If you plan on acquiring a weapon yourself, you can add that modification if you wish."

"I'll stick to my own fire, thank you." Azula thought for a moment before remembering the phrases Weiss and Ruby had mentioned when they first met. "Weiss mentioned this Dust before. What is it?"

"I suppose you could call it Remnant's version of Bending," said Ozpin. Dust is a unique mineral that has manifested as the natural and unnatural elements. The basic elements you're aware of, fire, wind, earth, and water. There are lightning, lava, ice, energy, steam, gravity, plasma, and hard-light."

"I have no idea what those last three are. The others I am familiar with. The Fire Nation used steam to power our war machines."

"Gravity keeps us on the ground," said Glynda. "Plasma is… well the same material as the sun." Azula glanced outside where she saw the sunset.

"And Hard-light," said Ozpin. "The rarest form of Dust, is well, it would be hard to explain without any to demonstrate its uses."

"I see," said Azula.

"Miss Agni," said Glynda. "If you don't mind my asking. Why did you save your brother if, as you said, you hated him?" Azula grew silent. She contemplated her words for a moment before turning to them.

"I don't know. I suppose some part of my broken mind still saw him as my brother. Even though I fought him in an Agni Kai, I don't think I ever could've brought myself to truly kill him, though my actions said otherwise. I never used enough lightning to kill him. It was his fool decision to jump in the way of the bolt even though that peasant easily could've evaded it. She and the Avatar had proven such in the past. Despite being groomed to be a warrior and leader, I've never actually killed anyone besides the Avatar, though that was temporary."

"Why is that?"

"I… do not know… I'm not above it, part of my upbringing, but the few times I would have killed someone, some part of me diverts my aim to just injure them. Like my uncle…" Ozpin noticed her swallow and grip her clothes beneath her armor slightly. "When it was in the sense of duty to my father and the Fire Nation, I was able to kill the Avatar, if only momentarily. But other than that instance, I've never killed anyone." Ozpin hummed softly as he considered her words.

"Actually," said Ozpin. "If you think back. You've killed precisely two people. The Avatar, and the man who killed you." Ozpin watched her carefully. Azula replayed the events of her death in her mind. She felt the first arrow pierce her chest as she pushed Zuko out of its path and the heat of the flames as she fired on the archer. His screams, deafened by the flames, now reached her ears before they went silent almost immediately as she was hit by the second arrow. Azula clenched her fists as the screams filled her head, louder and louder as she relived the moment again and again. She covered her mouth as bile started filling her mouth. Ozpin was anticipating this and placed a trach bin under chin as Azula emptied whatever was in her stomach which wasn't much except for water she drank briefly on the flight to the school and the few sips from the glass on Ozpin's desk.

"It seems, Miss Agni, the Spirits were right about you. You aren't completely like your father. From what you've told me, your father wouldn't have thought twice about the man after killing him. But it seems you had an adverse to the thought of it. I would say you have a good heart. You killed someone, not in the sense of duty or revenge. You killed someone while protecting your family. Someone with a good heart, even if its been clouded by dark ambitions and a childhood such as yours, would still revile at the thought of killing someone. You may have a strong sense of duty, and that may help you kill at certain times, but this was not out of duty. He was one of your country's men. A soldier most likely with a family doing his duty."

"Shut up!"

"Don't deny it, Azula. When it comes down to it, that's why you saved your brother, and more recently Miss Schnee when she fell from the Nevermore. You had no obligations to save her."

"That was me simply helping an ally! I had no idea where I was! I was up against a giant bird and needed as much help as possible!"

"You can try and cover up the fact, Azula. But if it were truly because you needed as much help against the Nevermore, as you claim, you would've spent more time considering your actions. Instead, when she fell you jumped to save her, no other thoughts, no worries about if the Nevermore could've snatched you and Miss Schnee out of the air. You selflessly saved her without a second thought. Only someone with a good heart would act first to save a friend without hesitation."

"She is not my friend."

"Give it time. I think attending classes with her and the others will change that."

"And what makes you think I've decided on attending your school?"

"You're still here speaking with me. Not walking away, not rejecting my offer. And you willingly told me the truth about where you came from. You could've refused. Could've come up with some lie to explain your resurrection. Instead, you have been honest. Respectful. You wouldn't be here unless you were interested. And if you want to put a sense of selfishness, you're new to this world. It would be more beneficial to learn about this world, its inhabitants and its technology, in a place where you can easily hide." Azula glared at him before setting the trash bin down. "Now then. I believe we've talked long enough. Would you be so kind as to show me which artifact you grabbed from the temple, Azula?"

Azula reached into her pocket and pulled out the artifact before showing it to them. "I suppose my other question can wait. For now, can you tell me what the significance of this is?"

"First tell me. What drew you to this artifact?" Azula looked at the artifact in her hands. It resembled a rounded tower with pointed ridges around it with an elegant carving around the base.

"It's beauty. It has an elegant appearance to it. Elegant and strong. Why?"

"That artifact is known as the White Queen in a boardgame known as chess. It is the most powerful piece on your side, beside the pawn which can become a queen once it reaches the other side of the board. I don't know if the spirits have a sense of irony or if they see things we mortals cannot, but I'd say that piece fits you perfectly. Keep it."

"Why were your students retrieving these?"

"They were how we would assign them to teams. Only two pieces never had a twin in the set. The King and the Queen. Now then. Shall we be going? I think it's time to welcome the new students and form the teams."

"What will my team be?"

"I'll explain at the end of the ceremony. Shall we?" Azula sighed and followed after him, Glynda close behind. As they rode, what Azula now knew as an elevator, down, she thought on what Ozpin said. _'Stop trying to fool yourself,'_ she thought. _'The only reason you are attending this school is to learn of this world's history, culture, and technology. Otherwise surviving here will be more difficult than you need it to be! Then why did I save Weiss and try to save Ruby? I barely knew them. You were gaining their trust! They'd be more than willing to side with you if you seem more like a friend than an uninterested person who could care less! Having supporters will make conquering this world simpler! You'll prove those spirits wr-'_ Azula's thoughts faltered as she saw her mother's face in the reflection on the metal door in front of her. _She_ had a small smile on her face and placed her hand on Azula's shoulder, which Azula thankfully didn't feel this time around.

"Are you alright, Miss Agni," asked Glynda. Azula blinked as the image of her mother faded away.

"Just fine…" _'I thought those spirits fixed my mind! Why am I seeing her again?!'_ She clutched at her chest as a deep pain rose in her heart. A pain she's finally recognizing had been there since childhood. When her father took interest in her Firebending and her mother started paying more attention to Zuko than herself. A pain of longing, of sorrow. Her father showed her no amount of affection, only preference at what she could become. Because of the attention her father gave her, Zuko was neglected. And Azula noticed her mother spending more time with him as a result. _'And jealousy ensued… Spirits… why? Why is this only now coming up? Is it because of him?'_ Azula glanced at Ozpin and saw him looking at the strange device he'd shown her in his office.

"Oh yes," said Ozpin. "Before we reach the bottom floor. Do you know what a Faunus is?"

"Faunus? Isn't that the scientific classification for animals?"

"Technically yes. But in this case, Faunus is the name for the other race of beings on this world. Humans with animal traits. This can range anywhere from an extra set of ears, a set of horns or spikes, a tail, enhanced senses. Some even have wings either on their forearms or protruding from their back."

"I suppose you're telling me this, so I don't stare if I encounter one and make a fool of myself?"

"Very perceptive, Azula." A ding caught her attention as she felt the elevator come to a halt and she followed both teachers off of the elevator. "Now, you can enter the auditorium through the doors on the first right down the hall there." Ozpin pointed down a hall to his left. "Glynda and I will entered from backstage on the opposite side. Try and find a seat and we will begin assembling the teams for this year."

"You still have yet to tell me who my team will be."

"All in due time, Azula. Now then. Hurry along." Azula watched them run off and sighed before following Ozpin's directions. Her thoughts once again went toward her mother as she walked. She was lost in thought she didn't watch where she was going and bumped into someone. Years of combat experience and training kicked in and Azula grabbed the person she bumped into, tripping them up and throwing them to the floor. She aimed her fist at them, flames appearing on it and heard a girl shout out in surprise. On the ground in front of her was one of the Faunus Ozpin had told her about. A girl about a year older than herself with brown hair and rabbit ears wearing a brown black and yellow outfit looked at her in fear.

"Sorry," said Azula as she stood up and helped her up. "I'm a bit jumpy when I'm distracted. And I was heavily distracted when I bumped into you."

"I-it's alright."

"I really am sorry. My mind was… away from me. My father trained me to be a fighter at a young age. Wanted me to be his perfect weapon. Instincts got the better of me."

"Why would your father do that," asked the bunny girl with what seemed to Azula as an odd and rather pleasant accent.

"He was a cruel man. Wanted nothing more than to rule everything. I managed to get out from under his thumb. Ozpin extended an invitation to me to join Beacon when he learned of me."

"I'd say you're rather lucky then. So this is your first year at Beacon?"

"It is."

"It's my second year. My name is Velvet. Velvet Scarletina."

"Azula Agni."

"Azula. That's a nice name."

"Not as nice as Velvet, I'm sure." Azula saw the bunny girl blush lightly and smile. "Sorry to keep this short, but I need to get to the assembly."

"Oh! Of course! Sorry! The whole school is supposed to be there, but I slipped away to use the bathroom. Come on, let's go. It's just through there." Azula followed Velvet to the auditorium and looked around at the assembled students. "I think that girl there is trying to wave you down." Azula looked where Velvet was pointing and spotted Ruby waving to her. Azula sighed.

"That's Ruby. We met during the entrance test."

"Well, I'll let you go to your friend, Azula. I need to get to my team. I'm part of Team CFVY, by the way."

"Good to know. And to meet you Velvet." Velvet waved to her before heading off to join a team close to the back. Azula went to Ruby and found her sitting by her sister, Weiss, Yang and the girl in the black and white outfit, Blake.

"Who was that," asked Ruby.

"Velvet of team CFVY."

"Do you know her?"

"Only just met her."

"Oh. Ok."

"Both of you be quiet," said Weiss. "The four of us are the last ones to go up to the stage, from what we've been told."

"Wait. What about Azula?"

"She goes right after us, I'm guessing," said Yang.

"Then who is going to be her team," asked Blake.

"Ozpin said he'd announce my team at the end of it," said Azula.

"What did he want to talk to you about," asked Weiss.

"My past." Azula watched as the new teams were formed from the new students attending beacon. As the teams were formed, Azula glanced around the room and looked at the students who were already students at Beacon and counted the ratio of Faunus to human. She noticed there was significantly less Faunus than humans. _'So they're a minority. No doubt this has either caused or is a result of prejudice. I remember reading a report about similar things happening to the colonists in the Fire Nation controlled towns in the Earth Kingdom. From both sides. Fear and hate. I suppose it's the same no matter what world you live in.'_ Azula was broken out of her thoughts as Ruby nudged her arm.

"We're about to go up with Jaune and the others," she said. "You should as well." Azula sighed and turned to her.

"Very well." Azula followed them to the stage as she saw Jaune, Nora, the boy in green, Ren, and the girl in crimson and gold, Pyrrha form team JNPR with Jaune acting as leader. _'Him? He must've directed the team when they took down the Deathstalker. Let's see if Ozpin truly knows what he is doing.'_

"And finally," said Ozpin. "Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long. You four collected the White Knight pieces. From here on out, you four will form team RWBY with your leader, Ruby Rose." Azula nodded as she agreed with Ozpin's decision. Ruby, when they were in a crisis scenario, took charge and led the other girls against the Nevermore with an ingenious and insane plan Azula herself would've done given the circumstances.

"All of the official teams have been formed. However there is an announcement to make. Azula Agni. Please step forward." Azula walked over to his side and blinked as a bright light as shone on her. "Miss Agni is a late addition to the new students. While all of the students were launched, she was already on the ground. Her instructions were to wait to encounter any students and travel with them to retrieve this years artifacts. She has retrieved the White Queen piece." Azula noted some mutterings from the older students. "As such she is granted the unique honor of forming her own team with whoever she views can work best with her. Until such time, however, Azula will be interim co-leader with Ruby of team RWBY. Azula turned to him and shook his hand as he extended it to her. "Good luck, Miss Agni."

"Thank you, Professor Ozpin."

"Do try not to burn anyone for the duration of your education."

"I make no promises, Professor."

"I thought as much." When the assembly had been dismissed, Azula found herself in the middle of a bear hug ala Ruby.

"Oh my god," she exclaimed. "We're going to be co-leaders!"

"Only until she forms her own team," Blake reminded her. Ruby deflated slightly.

"I know…"

"Until then," said Azula. "I'll make sure you four can work without my supervision."

"Hey," said Ruby. "We worked well together against the Nevermore!"

"Yes, but before that, you and Weiss got lost. With you two it's clear there will be a clash of egos. That being said, we need you both to work on working together without someone there to act as a catalyst. Luckily for you, we have the weekend to train. So we have a chance to improve that."

"What are you planning," asked Yang.

"Simple. Tomorrow, when we wake up, you four will spar with me and attempt to defeat me."


	3. Azula vs RWBY

Azula groaned as she sat up in bed. Her mattress in beacon was a far cry from what she was used to, but it got the job done of providing some comfort to allow her to sleep, especially in this unknown world. She sat up and found Team RWBY still asleep. Unsurprised by this, Azula quietly slipped out of the bed that had been moved into the room Team RWBY was assigned. Slipping into her clothes and armor, Azula realized she only had the one set of day clothing with some sleepwear being provided by Ruby. _'I need to procure some currency and purchase a new wardrobe. One set of clothing can't survive long in a school such as this,'_ she thought to herself. Without another sound, Azula made her way out of the room after making her bed and ventured out to the courtyard just before the sunrise.

She sat down in the lotus position, legs crossed, arms placed lightly in her lap, and closed her eyes, breathing deeply. As the warmth of the rising sun began to wash over her, Azula let it fuel the fire within her body and soul. If she had learned anything from her uncle, it was how to meditate and center herself for the day. Thoughts of her uncle, of her home, filled her mind as she thought of his meditation lessons. She tried to cleanse her mind of such thoughts, but the floodgates had been opened. Thoughts of Iroh led to Zuko, which led to her mother. This started an unrelenting recounting of everything that had gone wrong since she brought Zuko home. Betrayed by her friends, betrayed by her brother. No support, nothing to fall back on.

She'd taken Ba Sing Se, but her father had shown little care for her accomplishment. To him, capturing the Earth Kingdom capital was nothing but an inevitability. It didn't matter who captured it or when. As long as he gained more power, he didn't care. And Azula had been blind to that. She should've seen it coming. Even her own father betrayed her. As she thought of those who'd betrayed her, her mind inevitably came to Ursa. The first to betray her. Showing only Zuko the love and affection _she_ needed. And then leaving after killing her grandfather. Then her mind drifted to why such betrayals had happened. Ursa ran because she knew her father would have her killed. Her father beat into her head that people were only tools, that friends were nothing more than pawns in a larger scheme. She'd listened, and Ty Lee and Mai both betrayed her. Mai for love of Zuko, Ty Lee so Azula wouldn't do something she'd end up regretting.

Unable to fully clear her mind, Azula growled and stood up before getting into the beginning stance for the Northern Dragon kata of Firebending. If she couldn't meditate to quiet her mind, she would quiet it through exercise. Azula breathed deep before taking a step forward and initiating the kata. She let loose a series of strikes into an invisible opponent, effortlessly transitioning from offensive to defensive stances; keeping focus on her footing and balance. After working through the kata, Azula brought in her arms, palms face down, and exhaled. As she settled her breathing, she noticed how hands were closed into fists. Azula stared at her fists with a look of concern and disappointment. She had long since trained herself to keep her Firebending as precise as possible by only using her first two fingers on each hand. She hummed to herself and went through the forms again and caught her closed fists halfway through the Komodo-Rhino kata set, a series of moves used to break through an opponent's defenses with strong and continued jabs and kicks, and growled. "What is wrong with me?"

"Perhaps it has something to do with your still recovering mind, Miss Agni," said a voice behind her. Azula turned around and spotted Ozpin standing behind her with his mug of steaming liquid and felt her nerves relaxing slightly.

"So that's why I revealed everything so easily yesterday. I knew something was off about me. Your brew causes a relaxing aroma to waft to those unused to its scent, lulling them into a sense of security while conversing with the Headmaster. It seems I didn't give you enough credit, Ozpin."

"Or you give me too much, Miss Agni. Being a headmaster of a school can cause an immense amount of stress on one's body, after all." Ozpin walked over to her and handed her a card.

"What is this?"

"That is a Lien card. It is used to purchase things in our world. This is your payment for your role in killing the Nevermore yesterday. The older and more dangerous Grimm have garnered a hefty bounty in the Four Kingdoms. Normally, the Nevermore don't venture close to the city, or bother attacking students in the forest. But Ruby woke it up and brought its attention to all of you. Inspired though her decision was, it could've been handled very differently."

"Agreed. But she did handle herself in a leadership position in the canyon. Jaune as well. Though, unlike the rest of them, he seems…"

"Lacking. Jaune was somehow able to falsify his transcripts to get into the school, but he comes from a long line of prominent Hunters. This entire education is his ongoing test to see if he has what it takes to become a Hunter."

"Well, choosing him as leader was probably a good way of doing that. And his teammates are sure to help him improve as well."

"You seem to be taking to this rather well, Azula."

"I'm not in my home. Against my will, I've been resurrected into this world with no knowledge of its culture, technology, history, or people. It's part of the reason I told you of my world yesterday. After you showed me that moving picture of my resurrection here, I realized I had no way of using my usual methods of manipulation and coercion. This world is alien to me, its technology and other advancements more so. Complying with you seemed to be the only option I had. You being the headmaster of a school, after all."

"I see." Ozpin took a sip from his mug as Azula examined the card.

"How do I use this thing?"

"I'll have someone escort you into the city. It occurred to me, given how you ended up in the forest to begin with, you didn't have any spare clothes, and your armor was damaged in your fight with the Beowolves as well. Also, if you wish to purchase weapons, or have someone customize some of your own design, that card will help."

"Can it be after my spar with my team? I'm assessing how well they can work together while not observing them from a cliff."

"I'll make sure the arena is available for you this afternoon. Then one of the students will show you around the city. When you return, there are a few people I'd like for you to meet."

"Why?"

"Since you were willing to place your trust, small though it may be, with me, I feel I should do the same."

"And these people, I suppose it's some sort of secret society?"

"In a way." Azula grunted and felt her stomach growl softly. "Have you eaten anything since you arrived here?"

"No."

"Then I suggest you do so. You are still growing, after all. Have a good day, Miss Agni." Azula watched the man leave and thought about both interactions with him. Ozpin seemed to be wiser than his years showed him to be. She felt similar energies she felt when she met with her father and the few times she had interactions with her uncle. A kind and wise nature alongside a manipulative and controlling mind. Attributes she was all too familiar with. Azula found a map around the campus and followed its directions to the mess hall where only a few people were eating since most of the school slept in on the weekend.

As she got her food, she found a familiar face under a pair of rabbit ears sitting alone at a table. "Good morning, Velvet." The bunny girl looked up, startled slightly, and calmed down, smiling as she saw Azula.

"Morning, Azula," said the girl.

"I didn't expect you to be up so early."

"I could say the same for you."

"I rise with the sun. It fuels my flames and my Chi."

"Chi?"

"How I'm able to summon my flames." Azula conjured a ball of flame in her hand, mesmerizing Velvet with its blue color. "I draw upon my life force to power my flames."

"So, it's your Semblance, then?"

"There's that word again. Tell me, what is a Semblance?"

"It's a unique power one gets when they unlock their Aura."

"Aura?"

"You don't know what Aura is?"

"I've lived a sheltered life, remember?"

"Oh, right. Forgot. Let's see if I can explain it. Aura is basically the manifestation of your soul. Huntsmen and Huntresses use it to protect themselves from attacks. As a result, they gain a unique power to them when their Aura is activated."

"I see. In any case, my fire is not a result of Aura. Many people where I was born were able to do the same as I, though without the blue coloring. That is unique to me alone. And how exactly does Aura protect you?"

"Well, it sort of acts like a shield around your body. It also helps speed up our healing if we are injured."

"I definitely do not have that. My flames are meant to kill, not heal."

"I can't imagine the kind of life you were forced to live, Azula."

"No, I'm sure you can't." Azula looked at her food, eggs and bacon, a common place no matter what world you're in, and placed her palms together, closing her eyes in a silent prayer.

"What are you doing?" Azula finished her prayer before turning to Velvet.

"A prayer before eating. A custom from home I practice regularly."

"My teammate does the same thing. His name is Yatsuhashi."

"I see." _'It seems certain practices are similar here as back home. I wonder what else is similar.'_ As the two conversed, Azula spotted a member of her team enter the mess hall, Blake. Spotting her, Blake got her food and went over to them. "Good morning, Blake."

"Azula." She sat across from her and started to eat a bowl of cereal.

"This is Velvet."

"The student you met before the assembly, correct?" Azula nodded.

"Nice to meet you," said Velvet.

"Same." Blake turned to Azula.

"Why are you up so early?"

"I rise with the sun. Which is to say that the sun energizes me for the day. My Chi is replenished when I meditate in front of the sun as it rises."

"Chi?"

"My life force. And no, it's nothing like Aura."

"Is that how you were able to use those flames?"

"It is. My father groomed me to be a weapon, hence why I am as skilled as I am in a fight."

"Why would he do that?"

"He was a power-hungry man. When I was born, he viewed me as his perfect weapon."

"That seems… harsh."

"He was. I'll tell you more about my past later, after our fight."

"You're fighting," asked Velvet.

"I am co-leader of team RWBY. I need to learn what they can do first-hand. And since my position is only temporary until I construct my own team, learning through combat is the easiest way since I can use my knowledge against them if they get in my way of world domination."

"You're kidding, right," asked Blake. Azula said nothing and ate a strip of bacon, leaving the two girls confused and nervous as she bit back a smirk. _'Well, human psychology remains the same.'_ Azula glanced at Blake's bow and set down her fork.

"Blake, why do you wear that?" Blake looked at her, confused until she pointed to the top of her head. Azula watched Blake's eyes dart upwards before meeting hers as she spoke up.

"I like the look." Azula stared her down and Blake stared back, unflinching. While she had trouble reading her, Azula was still able to and frowned.

"Hiding who you are is not good. Especially when it concerns your leader, Blake."

"I'm not hiding anything, Azula." Blake stood up and Azula saw the bow move like a twitch of agitation, masked by the sudden movement. Azula sighed and finished her eggs.

"Very well. I will believe you, for now. But know if this interferes with anything regarding the team, there will be consequences, Blake Belladonna."

"It won't."

"Morning guys," came the yawned call of Yang as the rest of team RWBY, followed by team JNPR, entered the mess hall and got their food.

"Somehow you didn't strike me as a morning person, Weiss," said Azula as she looked at the heiress. Weiss glared slightly at Azula, shadows under her eyes.

"I'm not. An annoying blue light woke me up from my sleep before my alarm went off for the day."

"Well, I'm sure you'll grow used to it." Azula smirked as she met Weiss' glaring gaze.

"Guys," said Ruby, nervous. "Can you please not do this? We've only just become a team."

"Let them get it out of their system, Sis," said Yang. "I'm sure it's just sexual tension."

"Yang," exclaimed Weiss as she blushed. Azula chuckled under her breath.

"I assure you, Yang," said Azula. "This is nothing but finding amusement in someone's discomfort. Besides, my interests would fall under someone with more…" Azula glanced between the two girls. "Distinguishable attributes." Yang smirked as Weiss growled and huffed, turning away from Azula. Ruby looked at her new friend, slightly confused by her wording. Azula turned to her team. "Ozpin has told me the arena will be free for us to use this afternoon. We'll hold our sparring match then and there."

"Sparring match," asked Jaune. "What are you talking about?"

"I need to know how well my team can work together. In order to do so, I will be sparring with them to see how they fight firsthand and how well they can adapt in battle. Your team is welcome to observe as well. Of course, the invitation extends to you and your team, Velvet."

"Are you sure," asked the bunny girl.

"I just want you to see how futile it will be to try and stop me when I take over the world." Nora laughed.

"That's a good one Azula," said the hyperactive girl. "Got room for someone else?"

"Afraid not. There's only room for one queen at the top. Pretenders can stay in their place." Nora pouted as Azula stood up. "I'll leave you all to your breakfast. I need to ready myself. Ladies, gentlemen… Weiss."

"Hey," shouted the heiress in annoyance. Azula smirked and left the mess hall before frowning and looking at her hands. Mentally, she went over the Agni Kai with her brother and realized that throughout the fight, she'd been unbalanced. She hadn't fought like her usual self. She behaved like a berserk brute, not a refined princess. The last few weeks before her overthrown coronation had been nothing if not unbalanced. Betrayed by friends and family alike. Her mission to be the perfect daughter and Fire Lord to Ozai as well as her hallucinations had broken her when she was beaten by the Water Peasant. Knowing that there was a way to see her posture in this world after the fight, Azula went to the elevator to Ozpin's office only to stop as she spotted Glynda.

"Glynda." The blonde professor turned to her and gave her a stern look.

"In public, you are to refer to me as Professor Goodwitch, Miss Agni. Understand?" Azula nodded. "Now, how can I help you?"

"You have those moving pictures of everything that happened in the forest and canyon, right?"

"Yes, we have footage of it. Why do you ask?"

"I need to see how I was fighting. I want to see if my mental state has affected how I fight."

"Then you caught me at the perfect time." Glynda handed her what seemed to be a small glass slab. "This is your scroll. It serves as a communication device as well as other functions. I'm sure one of your teammates will help you learn how to use it. Unfortunately, I'm very busy right now to help you fully, but I can send the footage of your fights to your scroll." Glynda tapped on her tablet and Azula felt her scroll jostle in her grip, making her jump. She looked at the device and saw unknown symbols under a picture of an envelope. "Simply use your fingers to navigate the device. I'm sorry I can't help right now, but your classmates should be able to help you with it. Have a good day, Azula." Azula looked at the scroll and turned it over in her hand.

"How does this work?" Azula decided not to mess with it for now and kept her grip on the device, her current attire lacking pouches. She made her way back to the dorms and started meditating with her scroll beside her in her room with team RWBY. As she meditated, her mind went to her plans in this world. The Spirits wanted her to be a Champion. But such a role was beneath her. She was more fit to rule this world, not save it. She opened her eyes and spotted the familiar image of her mother sitting before her. "What do you want, mother?"

"_Why are you so focused on ruling this world?"_

"It's my birthright! I am Azula, princess of the Fire Nation. I am…"

"_Not in the Fire Nation anymore. Ruling the world was your father's dream. Does it have to be yours?"_ Azula glared at the image of her mother but paused at its words. She knew that there was some logic in those words. Her father had been the cause of her mental breakdown. His controlling nature and selfish ambitions. His push for her to be perfect in all things no matter the price and the role it took on her state of mind. While ruling the world was appealing to her on a small scale, it was her father's dream and ambitions.

"I suppose you have somewhat of a point. But I am no Champion. I won't pretend to be something I'm not."

"_How can you know you're not a Champion?"_

"Because I'm not here by choice. I couldn't care less about the fate of this world. But while I am here, I will strive to better myself and learn more about this place."

"_And it's stories? Like when you were a child?"_ Azula growled and stood up before turning away from her 'mother'.

"Leave. I have nothing more to say to you." Azula gripped the frame of her bed until her knuckles turned white.

"Azula," asked Ruby from the doorway. Azula glanced behind her and saw the worried expression on her co-leader's face. "Who were you talking to?" Azula sighed and straightened herself.

"No one. What do you want, Ruby?"

"We're all ready to go to the arena. I was coming to get you." Azula looked at the candle she had lit, lacking incense for her meditation and saw it had been burning for a while. She sighed before turning to her co-leader.

"Let's go then." The two fourteen-year-olds walked in silence out of the dorms before Ruby turned to Azula.

"So, what was your life like before Beacon?"

"Not the best of lives. My father was a horrible man. Controlling, power hungry, cruel. I was raised to be a weapon. A killer. I broke away from him and came here. "That's all you need to know."

"There has to be more."

"I've lived a very sheltered life. I only had interactions with my family, and a few girls in the area I lived in. Those girls betrayed me, my mother abandoned me, and my brother hated me because my father pitted us against each other. There is nothing else. Stop pressing." Ruby frowned as she stared at Azula. She wanted to know more about the girl, but Azula was making that very hard by not talking about herself in depth. "Look, I have trust issues because of those girls I thought my friends. I am not about to open up anytime soon as it was very recent that their betrayal happened. Don't expect me to open up more than I need to any time soon." Ruby sighed quietly as they made their way to the arena. Azula glanced at her briefly before handing her the scroll. "How do I operate this? Part of my father's controlling methods was limiting my knowledge of modern technology."

"Oh, sure." Ruby went over the basic functions of the scroll the call functions as well as the record and play function. Ruby pulled out her own scroll and sent a message to Azula's. Azula looked at the message and saw Ruby had used the unusual figures to make what she assumed was a word and what appeared to be a smiling face as well. Azula sighed as she realized another important thing about this world. The written language was completely foreign to her. The maps she'd seen around the campus had been easy to navigate given landmarks and indicators of which building was what given the images over each building and some trial and error. Azula made a mental note to start learning the written language as quickly as possible to help with her studies. _'Damn those spirits! Some blessing of knowledge would've been nice! Information is power! And I need all I can get to blend in here!'_ Azula massaged her temple slightly as the image of a white-faced black owl popped into her head. Azula saw the calligraphy of the Fire Nation appear in her mind. Azula blinked as she looked back down at her scroll and understood the letters. 'Hi!' was what she read. Azula blinked again and heard a voice in her head.

'_This is the last time I help a human…'_ Azula shook her head and closed the screen Ruby showed her. She turned to Ruby and saw the concerned look on her face. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. Just a small headache." They finished walking to the arena and found the rest of RWBY there.

"Finally," exclaimed Yang. "What took you so long?!"

"I was meditating. Something that could help your impatient nature, Yang."

"I'm just ready to get this over with!" Yang emphasized her eagerness by punching the palm of her hand. Azula grinned slightly before walking passed her team to the Arena and following the signs she could now read to the arena proper and spotted the others heading in an opposite direction to enter from the opposite side. She entered on her side and spotted Team JNPR and Velvet sitting next to who she assumed was the bunny girl's team: CFVY. Opposite them, she spotted Ozpin, Glynda and a man with spiky green hair wearing a white shirt, green pants and glasses over his eyes.

"I don't remember extending the invitation to you."

"Teachers must be present in the event of a sparring match, Miss Agni," said Glynda. She gestured to the green haired man. "This is Professor Oobleck. He will be monitoring the Aura levels for this match."

"Considering Miss Agni doesn't have an Aura herself," said Ozpin. "Perhaps we should lay down defeat stipulations for her."

"I already have that in mind, Professor," said Azula. She turned to her team and gave a friendly smile that sent shivers down Team RWBY's spine. "I will not be using my flames unless I feel I need to. If you manage to force me to use my flames, you win the first round. If, after that, you manage to knock me out, you win entirely."

"And if Azula manages to defeat you at all, it's game over. This is, after all, an uneven match up. Four on one is hardly fair."

"For them. Perhaps if they had another person to help them?" Azula's eyes fell on Pyrrha. "How about you, Pyrrha? You seem like you'd be willing to help."

"Let's keep this between your teammates," said Glynda. "Does everyone agree with the stipulation?"

"This is hardly fair," said Weiss. "She doesn't have weapons, or Aura? She won't be able to win!"

"I assure you, Weiss," said Azula with a bone chilling grin. "I don't need either." Azula stood at a relaxed, yet ready stance with her arms held behind her back as Team RWBY readied their weapons. Ruby was nervous about possibly hurting Azula. Blake was cautious, wary of Azula's confidant behavior despite the odds being against her. Yang matched Azula's grin as prepared for the fight while Weiss readied Myrtenaster, looking to wipe the smirk off of Azula's face.

"Begin," said Glynda. Yang shot Ember Celica behind her to propel herself towards Azula, aiming a high-speed punch at her face while Weiss followed behind her. Azula showed incredible athletic ability as she bent backwards under the blonde's punch and tripped her up as she stepped to the side, avoiding a stream of ice from Weiss. Ruby used her speed and closed in on Azula swinging the back of Crescent Rose at Azula. Azula found the three girl's speed faster than she was used to when fighting anyone other than the Avatar when using his Airbending to evade her. _'I wonder if this is the benefit of having an activated Aura. I may need to use my flames after all.'_

Azula deflected Yang's fist and remembered what Ty Lee had taught her in case something like the Eclipse ever happened again. Azula remembered where and how her former friend said to strike and pressed her knuckles to a point on Yang's arm. Yang found she couldn't move it and growled, her eyes changing from lilac to crimson. "What the hell did you do," she shouted. Azula just smirked and ducked under Crescent Rose before kicking Weiss away from her. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Blake was staying back, observing her as she barely avoided strikes from Ruby and Weiss as Yang stepped aside, trying to get feeling back in her arm. Azula kicked Myrtenaster out of Weiss' hand and towards Blake. The girl rolled under the blade as it imbedded itself into the wall where she was standing and glared at Azula.

The former Fire Princess jumped off of Ruby's back after tricking the girl into getting her scythe stuck into the ground. Azula shot towards Blake and aimed to land strikes on her pressure points as well. She paused slightly as her fist went through Blake like a mirage. She grunted as she was kicked from behind and turned around to meet the frowning face of Blake as she changed Gambol Shroud to its gun form. Azula charged in close and grabbed Blake's arm before kicking her in the stomach twice. She dove away as Yang charged in again, trying to punch with her only working arm. This time, Yang used Ember Celica to send concussive strikes at the Firebender. Azula backed up, evading strikes from both Yang and Blake as they pressed their numbers advantage as Azula's ears rang.

As she was pushed to a wall, Azula made note of how the two managed to adapt quickly to work together despite only doing so once before. She kicked away Gambol Shroud as Blake sent it careening towards her using its cable. Azula spotted Weiss' glyphs on the ground and knew either she or Ruby was about to join the melee. Azula let Yang get in close and landed a light jab to her leg, rendering it useless. She spotted the cable of Gambol Shroud around her waist as Blake pulled her out of the fight. "Yang Xiao Long is unable to continue," said Professor Oobleck.

"I can still fight," protested Yang.

"Then stand on your own two feet," said Azula before catching Ruby as she sped towards her but hesitated as her scythe almost nicked Azula's arm. She threw the reaper at Yang and knocked them to the ground before rolling to the side as a line of fire from Weiss shot towards her from the rapier planted into the ground. Azula decided to go on the offensive and charged at Weiss. Azula used Firebending forms without conjuring flames and aimed a high kick at Weiss' head. The heiress, not expecting the sudden shift in footing and found herself blocking the kick with the guard on her rapier. Hearing a click behind her, Azula dove behind Weiss as Blake fired at her position. She covered her ears from the louder sounding bangs as the gunshots echoed in the enclosed area.

Gambol Shroud impacted with the back of her armor, reducing it to scrap. Azula cried out in pain as the blade raked against her back. She turned to the girls still standing and found herself surrounded with the girls looking at her in concern. Azula growled and shot flames from her feet at Blake, forcing her to retreat. "Team RWBY wins the first round," said Glynda. Not caring, Azula leapt and spun herself in the air, charging flames at her feet before kicking them at Ruby. The co-leader of Team RWBY used her Semblance and shot away from the torrent of blue flames, burning rose petals falling to the ground in her wake. Weiss switched to Water Dust and launched several streams at Azula, using her glyphs to propel them faster. The Firebender conjured a wall of flames between them, evaporating the water bullets. When the wall fell, Weiss stared at the now empty spot where Azula used to be standing in confusion before a roar of flames above caught her attention.

"Look out," shouted Blake as she tackled Weiss out of the way, leaving the shadow she left behind to get hit. Azula conjured a flame pinwheel and launched it at Ruby who spun Crescent Rose and just barely managed to dissipate it. As they recovered, Blake tossed Gambol Shroud towards Ruby, keeping hold of the cable. Ruby caught the weapon and sped around the arena in an attempt to trip up Azula. Azula attempted to jump out of the way but found her feet stuck to the floor thanks to a stream of ice from the heiress. Annoyed, Azula bent backwards, under the cable and shot a ball of flame where Ruby was heading, forcing the girl to stop before she hit it. Azula melted the ice at her feet and used flames to propel herself to Weiss and slammed into her before hitting pressure points on her abdomen, sending her to the ground as she lost control of her body, much like Ty Lee had done to several people including herself. Azula turned to her final two opponents as Oobleck announced Weiss was out of the fight.

"And thus, your numbers halve. Feel free to give up at any time," said Azula. With the odds favoring her a little bit more, Azula resorted to the last thing in her arsenal, mind games.

"We're not done yet," said Ruby.

"Oh? Your best melee fighter was taken out first, and Weiss was just taken out now. Without her glyphs to aid you in combat, how do you two plan on taking me on now that I'm taking this half seriously?"

"W-we'll find a way!"

"Calm down, Ruby," stated Blake. "She's just trying to get into your head. Don't listen to her."

"Right." Azula smirked and launched herself into the air with her flames before sending a stream of fire to separate the two. Azula sent herself to Blake and slammed a flaming kick downwards at her. Blake's shadow took the hit and she tried attacking Azula from behind like before, only to pause as she saw Azula's hand going for the bow on her head. Blake covered it up on instinct and fell to the ground as Azula attacked the pressure points on her legs. Azula smirked at her before grunting as a projectile hit her shoulder. Azula spotted a large projectile on the ground beside her bounce as Ruby sped around the arena, firing at Azula as often as her hands would allow her. Azula picked up Blake and threw her into Ruby's path, tripping her up. As she slid to a stop, Azula was on her and placed a boot on her chest after kicking away the scythe. She looked up at the teachers and met Glynda's eye.

"Azula is the winner," said the stern teacher. Azula smirked and got off of Ruby before helping the girl up.

"Good," said Yang. "You won. Can you fix us, please?!" Azula chuckled and went to Yang before stretching her arm and leg out. Yang flexed her fingers as feeling came back to her limbs. Azula did the same with Blake and Glynda looked at Azula.

"What about me," asked Weiss.

"You'll recover eventually. Though for now, I suggest someone carry her to the room or the infirmary, whichever is closer, so she can recover on a mattress."

"I'll take her," said Ruby. "Yang, can you help?" The two sisters picked up the heiress and left the arena. Azula joined Blake in the atrium of the building where the other teams and teachers were waiting.

"That was amazing," shouted Nora. "What exactly did you do to them?!"

"She hit their pressure points," said Ren. "It's an old technique used not only to incapacitate people, but also to supposedly relieve people of aches and pains."

"No clue how to do that last one, unfortunately," said Azula.

"You have some skills," said the other girl on Velvet's team.

"Azula," said Velvet. "This is my team's leader. Coco Adel." Azula looked the girl over. She had dark brown eyes hidden behind dark glasses and equally brown hair under an unusual hat to Azula. She wore a long light brown shirt under a dark brown cincher and dark brown pants and brown knee high, heeled boots. Azula noticed her belt was lined with odd cylinders and a similar belt hung around her shoulder.

Coco smiled and held out her hand. "Nice to meet you," said the leader of CFVY. Azula shook her hand as Ozpin turned to her.

"Miss Adel here is going to take you into the city to acquire a new wardrobe and show you where the important places are."

"Been meaning to go on a shopping spree! And Velvet isn't fun to bring along anymore." Velvet turned timid slightly.

"I would like it more if you didn't force me into everything you think I'd look great in," muttered the bunny girl. Azula glanced at her before turning back to Coco and seeing a mischievous look in her eyes as she looked Azula over.

"Somehow I think I'm going to regret agreeing to this," said Azula.


	4. Lessons to Learn

Azula lay face down in a cot in the infirmary, her ruined armor and shirt tossed into a bin beside her as she ignored the glare directed at her by a certain white-haired heiress. "I'm not apologizing," said the former Fire Princess.

"You should," said the heiress. "I can't move!"

"Be glad I didn't cut off circulation to your brain. Though with the way you act perhaps I'd be doing the world a favor."

"Excuse me?!"

"Enough," shouted Ruby. "Azula, apologize."

"For what? Taking advantage of my knowledge in combat? You were fighting a person. Someone who is able to adapt and change tactics in a fight. There's no room for proper stances and textbook blocks and footwork. And there's definitely no room for hesitation. Ruby, I gave you multiple openings while avoiding the other's attacks. In a match, don't see me as an ally, I'm the enemy. And Weiss." Azula turned her head to Weiss. "Stop focusing too much on your footing. I noticed it both in the forest and now. If you can't adapt to changes in circumstances because you're too focused on where your foot goes for a stance, you will lose."

"I wasn't…"

"I've learned how to fight people, how to take advantage of any openings I spot, and how to spot them while maintaining an instinctive knowledge of where my body should be for particular stances in combat. You put a second too long into thinking on such a thing and left yourself open when I changed from defensive posturing to offensive." Azula looked over to where Yang was sitting reading a magazine. "Yang, you need to work on your patience and anger."

"What are you talking about," asked the boxer.

"You rushed in without your team, forcing them to keep up with you instead of working alongside you. And your fighting style consists more of punching than anything. You need to diversify otherwise you will be taken down as easily as today. Rushing in headfirst with your fighting style without patience, without thinking, and with nothing but pure power leaves you exposed. There are certain fighting styles that can overcome you just by redirecting your attacks and wearing you down before even landing a blow themselves. And when I stopped you from using one of your arms, you got angry, you lost focus and your eyes turned red. A casual observer can tell you're about to make a mistake soon." Azula shifted her gaze to Blake.

"And me," asked the normally silent girl.

"You, I only have one comment on, and that can wait for a private discussion. Other than that, you were the only one to land a successful blow on me, which put me where I am now, waiting for someone to seal up this gash on my back. You watched the way I fought, analyzed how I moved and found a clear advantage in my hearing. It's how you landed the blow in the first place. And you worked with Ruby to form a situation to limit my movement for a time to give an edge. You showed proper teamwork not just attacking individually and hoping the mismatched attacks would force me on the backfoot. Given time, you four would've properly fought together like in the canyon, but today, you showed just how much work we need. I don't like having a team that doesn't work well together. As soon as I can leave this bed and get some new attire, we'll work on that."

"Well said, Miss Agni," said Ozpin from the doorway.

"Someone should give you a bell."

"Good to see I'm not the only one that thinks that," said Glynda as she adjusted her glasses with a smirk.

"What can we help you with, Professor," asked Ruby.

"I just came to see how your team is doing. I know you were supposed to go with Miss Adel to acquire some new clothing, Miss Agni, but your wound takes precedence."

"So, you tell me," said Azula. "But despite the pain, this wound is nothing. Some salve and gauze and I'll be fine to move around."

"No need to act tough. Besides, we can make sure this wound doesn't leave a scar as it heals."

"Fine. Can we just get on with it? I want to get through this as fast as possible."

"As you were telling Miss Xiao Long, patience is a virtue."

"Not when I'm supposedly being subjected to hell, from what Velvet tells me clothes shopping with Coco is like."

"You're going shopping," exclaimed Ruby and Yang. Azula winced slightly at the excitement in their voices.

"If I wasn't sure I was going to regret it before, I am now."

"Might as well make this a team thing," said Yang.

"Why? So more people can enjoy my suffering?"

"It's not suffering, it's bonding!"

"My point exactly. Where is the healer?!"

"You know this wouldn't be a problem if you activated your Aura," said Weiss.

"I'm still debating whether or not to do such a thing. While I admit there is a clear advantage to do so, I've progressed on my own strength. Part of me doesn't want to rely on a cheap gimmick increase speed, strength, and I'm guessing stamina as well."

"It's to help fight Grimm," said Ruby. "We need all the help we can get."

"Except you won't just be fighting Grimm. Anyone in their right mind can tell you that humans are just as evil, if not more so, than those beasts. They're mindless. We're not. And we take pleasure in harming others."

"Not everyone is like that, though."

"But a good majority is. And you can't tell me I'm wrong. I'm sure there's fair number of murderers, rapists, and criminals who do things because they feel like it. People who would rather stomp you in the ground to get what they want. And there's more who would do the last thing in normal circumstances. You have to see it. There's no human alive who doesn't do one evil act in their life." Azula sighed as the nurse finally arrived and started treating her wound. Ruby frowned at Azula's back as she went over Azula's words.

"Can one of you girls lend Azula some spare clothes," said Glynda. "Those clothes and armor were the only things Azula arrived in Vale with, and with them being in the state they are…"

"In other words, Professor Goodwitch doesn't want me walking around in just my underwear and breast bindings."

"What's with those, anyway," asked Yang.

"What?"

"Those bandage things."

"It's to keep my breasts from rubbing against my armor uncomfortably. In case you hadn't noticed, my fighting style consists of acrobatic feats as well as maneuverability. The bindings prevent any unwanted movement."

"Oh, so it's like a bra!"

"What's a bra?" Team RWBY stared at their second leader like she'd grown a second head.

"You're joking, right," asked Weiss.

"I don't think she is," said Ozpin as he sipped from his mug and the healer finally came and started working on Azula's back. "From what she's told me, her father, Ozai, controlled her by using old technology and clothing. As evidenced by her armor, clothing, and lack of knowledge of how certain things work, like the scroll." Ozpin picked up the remains of her armor to examine it. "Leather lining with iron plate. Anyone care to tell me what modern armors are made out of?"

"I don't know," said Blake. "Not a lot of people wear armor these days. It was phased out when Aura became the norm."

"Well, allow me to explain. For those who still use armor, like Mr. Arc and Ms. Nikos, they use a titanium and steel mixed alloy. It's very durable, but also tends to be somewhat heavy. That's why their armor isn't full plate armor, and only covers the most important parts of the body, sans the head. Chest pieces to cover the organs, braces and greaves to protect arms and legs. The only thing they're both missing are proper helmets to protect from blows to the head, but that's where their Aura is supposed to come in."

"Helmets limit one's field of vision," said Azula as she stood up, her back stitched up and chest exposed to the others. "While head protection is nice, limited vision of your surroundings is a good way to get yourself killed. Their choice in armor was smart, for the most part. And I suppose their Aura will protect them from any cuts at the tendons."

"Th-the what," asked Ruby, snapping out of her stupor from how brazen Azula was acting by exposing her chest as Glynda tried chastising her. Azula grinned and moved behind Ruby before grabbing her hairpin and aiming the trident flame at her armpit.

"Tendons are what keep our muscles together and allow us to fully move our joints. Sever the tendons, reduce your opponent's movement. I could cut you here…" She moved the pin to her legs. "Or here, above the thigh where your leg meets your pelvis. Wrists, ankles. There are so many places I can cut to reduce you to a worthless heap on the ground."

"Professor Goodwitch," came a slightly gruff voice from the entrance to the infirmary. "I was told you wanted to see… Gah!" Azula looked at the door as a young man the same age as Yang. He wore a grey long-sleeved shirt, black pants and a half mask over his mouth and nose. He had light blue eyes and was clearly flustered at the fact that Azula didn't have a shirt on.

"Oh, grow up. Act like a man, not a boy!"

"Have some decency and put a shirt on!" Azula rolled her eyes and took the hood from Ruby before drawing it around herself.

"There, happy?"

"There is something wrong with you."

"So I've been told." The boy shook his head and turned to Glynda.

"Anyway… you wanted to see me?"

"Yes," said Glynda. "Because you were late for the entrance exam, you can still attend classes, but you won't be assigned a team until next semester.

"What?!"

"Don't shout," said Azula. "These four are already giving me a headache. I don't need an even bigger one." The boy glared at Azula before Glynda gave him a stern look.

"Perhaps if you had arrived on time to the pickup sight, things would be different. Your room has been assigned, Mr. Ro'Meave. I suggest you get some rest for the weekend before classes." She turned to Azula.

"I know," said the Firebender. "Find a set of clothes before heading into the city. I don't need to be told twice."

"And try and get your co-leader to calm down. I think you scared her half to death with your demonstration." Azula turned to Ruby and saw her white as a sheet, Yang trying to snap her sister out of it.

"Great," she muttered. "It's gonna be all day with her." The nurse stretched out Weiss' limbs and the heiress groaned as she rolled her shoulders and neck.

"You know," she said. "That actually feels better than before."

"You're welcome," said Azula before turning to the boy. "You may state your name."

"You're not the boss of me," he said, crossing his arms as he glared at her.

"Seems only fair for you to introduce yourself. You did ogle my breasts not a minute ago." Azula smirked as he blushed like mad.

"I-You-Argh!"

"This is Zane Ro'Meave," said Ozpin. "A late arrival to Beacon Academy. He's a member of a prominent Hunter family and is the first to join Beacon Academy."

"I think that's enough, Professor," said Zane. He turned around and started walking away.

"Nice to meet you," called Yang. She turned to Azula. "He was kinda hot."

"How could you tell with that dumb mask on his face," asked Weiss.

"He kinda had that mysterious vibe going on."

"Ozpin," said Azula. "Can tell me anymore about that boy?"

"Ooh. You thinking of asking him out?"

"Hardly. If he doesn't have a team. I should recruit him to mine when the next semester starts. But first I need to see how he fights and how he behaves in combat. If he's worthless, I needn't bother considering him."

"That's kind of cold," said Blake.

"I suppose. Now. Ruby. Lend me a shirt."

"She's still out of it," said Yang as she waved a hand in front of her sister's face. "I haven't seen her like this since I showed her that slasher flick when we were kids."

"Aahh," exclaimed Ruby. She started hitting Yang repeatedly. "Don't bring that up! I still have nightmares!"

"Slasher flick," asked Azula under her breath before deciding it wasn't important.

"Can we please get on with this? I can feel Glynda still glaring at me to get a move on."

"You're using Miss Rose's cape to cover yourself," said Glynda.

"Well, you're adamant that I cover myself. Even though there's nothing wrong with this."

"It's indecent."

"Glynda," said Ozpin. "Let's just leave this matter be. Girls." With that, the headmaster left the infirmary. Glynda gave Azula a look before following after him. Azula rolled her eyes before she noticed Blake staring at her hairpin.

"Can I help you?"

"Is that gold," she asked.

"It is. Why?"

"Why is your hairpin made of gold?"

"It's a family heirloom. Made of pure gold and passed down through the generations." Azula said nothing else and left the infirmary with the team following after her.

"Where did you learn to fight the way you do," asked Blake as they walked to their room.

"Instructors and a former friend as well as natural talent. I'm a prodigy at this sort of thing."

"That's a bold claim," said Weiss.

"It's true. When it comes to applying myself to combat, I've excelled faster than most. When I set my mind to something, I don't stop until I've mastered it. Only a few things have given me trouble when I started learning it. My lightning, and dancing."

"Dancing," asked Weiss.

"Outside of combat, I was not the most graceful on my feet. A fact I'm not embarrassed to admit. Dancing has always been a useless skill. Something I still think to this day." As they exited the main building to head to the dorms, Azula stretched and closed her eyes as she took in the afternoon sun. Ruby blushed before forcing Azula's arms down, her face burning red.

"Azula," she exclaimed. "aren't you embarrassed?!"

"What's there to be embarrassed about? I'm of decent development. I shouldn't be ashamed of what I look like."

"…Your dad was sick," said Yang.

"It's actually a trait my mother practiced. One of the only things I remember about her before she left. She was never ashamed of herself unless father was present. One of the ways he controlled her before she ran from him."

"Why didn't she take you," asked Yang.

"Because my father's grip was too strong. I wouldn't have left."

"And your brother," asked Blake.

"Father mainly ignored him, but Zuko was foolish enough to be loyal to him. When mother left, my uncle looked after Zuko. I think it was a way to fill the void my cousin left when he died." Blake watched Azula closely as she seemed thoughtful for once. Azula shook her head before continuing to the dorms. Azula handed Ruby back her cape as they entered their room and waited for the easily excited girl to hand her a shirt.

"Why didn't you put your bindings back on," asked Weiss.

"Because someone tore through them, rendering them unable to be redone properly." She glanced at Blake who shrugged from her bed as she read a book.

"It's a bit cramped in here, isn't it," asked Yang as she looked around.

"We'll fix it later," said Azula. Ruby handed her a black shirt with yellow flowers on it. Azula grimaced and tossed it over her shoulder. "Too many flowers."

"Beggars can't be choosers," said Yang.

"I'm not begging. I'd go without a shirt if Glynda wasn't going to give me an earful." Azula looked at the next shirt, one colored pink with a rainbow across the chest. "Too childish." She tossed it back to Ruby before turning to Blake. "Blake. Lend me a shirt."

"Why me?"

"Because Weiss is too small, Yang is too big, and Ruby has the same mentality as a child. Besides, the nightgown I borrowed from Ruby was a bit tight in the chest." Blake sighed before reaching into her luggage and tossing Azula a plain dark blue shirt. Azula pulled it on and placed her hairpin back in place before she saw herself in a mirror. She hadn't taken a full look at herself since she'd arrived. Now that she did, she saw just how much different she seemed. Before her botched coronation, she was a mess. Her mental state had been completely frayed. She was unable to even tie her hair into a bun properly and had cut her bangs out of spite. She had looked insane. Every bit the monster she felt her mother saw her as. Now, however, she looked like she did before she broke down. Her bangs were restored. There were no bags under her eyes from lack of sleep and the crazed look was no longer entirely present.

Azula sighed and shook her head. "Everything ok," asked Ruby.

"Yes. Everything's fine. Just lost in thought."

"Lien for your thoughts," said Yang.

"I'd rather not talk about it right now." Azula heard a beep and turned to Ruby who had taken her scroll before the sparring match.

"It's yours," said the young reaper as she tossed Azula her scroll. Azula looked at the device and saw the words 'New Message' on the glass. _'What was that spirit that allowed me to be able to read these characters?'_ Azula turned to her team. "What can you tell me about Fairy Tales?"

"Why," asked Weiss.

"I grew up learning about Spirits who helped create the world. I wanted to know which were actual stories, and what was something my mother made up to entertain me." _'Not entirely false, I suppose.'_

"Sorry," said Ruby. "The only stories I know are one's Yang told me about were about heroes."

"My mother told me a few," said Weiss. "But It's been so long, I don't remember them that well."

"I have a few books," said Blake. "You can borrow them."

"Thank you." Azula opened the message and saw it was from Velvet.

_Meet us at the docks so we can head into the city_.

Azula nodded and turned to her team. "I'm going to meet with Velvet and Coco now to get some clothes."

"We'll go too," said Yang.

"Must you?" She saw the glimmer in their eyes and sighed. "I suppose I'll get no say in this?"

"Not really." Yang smirked at her leader; a look matched by her younger sister.

"Fine. I suppose you two are coming as well?"

"I need some new accessories," said Weiss.

"I'm fine here," said Blake as she pulled out a book and plopped down on her bed.

"If I have to endure this," said Azula as she walked over to Blake. "Then so do you." She leaned down close to whisper in the girl's ear. "Miss Faunus." Blake gave her a look before closing her book and standing up as Azula showed her the ghost of a smile. Azula pulled out her scroll and let Velvet know herself and her team were on their way. She glanced outside of the window and spotted the boy from earlier, Zane, wielding a longsword and working through a slew of onehanded stances. Feeling her gaze, the masked boy turned and met her gaze. Azula grinned slightly before stepping away from the window and following her team out of the door.

* * *

**(Author's Notes)**

**Alright, the first member of Azula's team, AZR, has been introduced. For those of you who know where I've borrowed him from, no, he won't be exactly the same. If you don't know where he's from, look up a Youtuber named Aphmau. She does Minecraft animations and stories. Zane Ro'Meave is her character, not mine. He is part of her cannon, I just borrowed him for my story with my own twist. Now for the second part of this note. I want someone to come up with Azula's new look. I know a lot of you were drawn here by the unique concept, but for those of you new to my stories, let me explain. I like letting my readers have a little sway in things to come. Nothing major, for the most part at least. Just pairings, minor OC's, and character design. I need someone to help with Azula's design, not just to describe for the story, but also, hopefully, for the story's thumbnail, something I lack for all of my stories. If you have an idea you'd like to share, PM me and I'll start talking with you about it and future designs. As for the third member, they will be introduced in the next chapter, along with the concept for Azula's weapons. If you guys want me to activate Azula's Aura, let me know in the reviews. Until next time, Y'all!**


	5. Shopping with the Girls

Azula growled softly as Coco stood in the changing booth with her and constantly pressed outfits against her to evaluate how it would look on her. "I am perfectly capable of picking clothing for myself, thank you very much," snapped Azula.

"Honey," said Coco. "I saw the clothes you tried picking the second you were left alone. They were random and mismatched and looked ugly as all hell. Trust me. You need some help."

"I don't need clothes that look good, just one's that fit. Once I have my armor repaired, you won't see them anyways."

"And if you think I'm going to let you wear your armor all the time, you're out of your damn mind. Besides. I know how to pick something that can better show off your… assets."

"And don't let your eyes wander all over me! I didn't give you permission to ogle!"

"Coco," exclaimed Velvet on the other side of the door. "Just give her something and leave her alone! There's no need to subject her to what you always put me through." Coco poked her head out of the door and grinned at her teammate.

"Are you volunteering to take her place," she asked. Velvet blushed and shivered before backing away.

"J-just forget I said anything!" Azula sighed and facepalmed.

"Some help she is," muttered the former Fire Princess.

"Now… where were we?" Azula glared at the devilish smirk on Coco's face before being shoved back in front of the mirror.

* * *

"So…" started Ruby as Velvet walked over to her and the members of Team RWBY in the store with them. "How's it going?"

"Honestly," said Velvet. They turned to the changing rooms as they heard Azula shout in anger. "I think we should be worried about Azula burning down the store."

"Yeah, I'm starting to see she has kind of a temper…"

"That's putting it lightly," said Weiss. "Where is she from again?"

"Some out of the way village," said Yang as she flipped through a magazine. "One that's never heard of the outside world, apparently."

"Is that even possible," asked Ruby.

"It must be. I mean, she doesn't have a clue about anything about Vale, after all."

"Don't you find that weird," said Weiss. "Atlas has scoured pretty much the entire world. I doubt they've missed a village like what she described."

"My village is hidden away beneath a mountain," said Azula as she and Coco walked over. Azula was now wearing a dark blue hooded jacket over a red shirt and black pants with black combat boots and Blake's shirt in her hand. "We managed to build into a complex of caves. We were fortunate to not have any of those Grimm in the area. The only thing we had to deal with were other villages we were constantly at war with."

"War," asked Ruby. "Why were you fighting?"

"Remember how I said my father wasn't a nice person? The same can be said for most men in my family. Our villages have been fighting for generations. It's the reason my father raised me the way he did, to crush the other villages. I'm sure by now my father was forced to surrender. I left before I could find out."

"You just left your family behind," asked Weiss.

"What family? My controlling father? My abandoning mother? Or what about the brother who hates me? Tell me? Does that sound like a family to you?" Weiss frowned slightly and looked away from her.

"It's probably not far off from what she's experienced," said Blake. "She's the heiress of a wealthy company, after all. One known for it's poor treatment of Faunus employees and shady business practices. Her father, Jacques, is said to be a… man of questionable character."

"Excuse me," exclaimed Weiss. "How dare you insult my father like that?!" Azula heard the slight hesitation in Weiss' voice. _'So, there's some truth in what Blake just said.'_ She handed the shirt back to the silent girl and turned to Coco.

"You are evil."

"Aww," said Coco with a smile. "Thank you!"

"Are we done here?"

"I've already paid for your new wardrobe and a few things for myself. So, yeah!"

"Good. Then let's get back to the school. I feel like I need a bath after that ordeal."

"I know how you feel," said Velvet softly.

"How you deal with that demon is beyond me."

"It gets easier."

"I find that hard to fucking believe."

"Shouldn't we get you some new armor before heading back," asked Ruby. "Without Aura, you are going to need it when we go on missions." Azula sighed.

"Yes. Thank you for reminding me, Ruby. Where's the nearest blacksmith?"

"Ooh! I know where that is! Follow me!" Azula turned as she sped off and sighed.

"How does she have that much energy? Ty Lee would be jealous."

"Oh," said Yang with a smile. "She gets like that when it comes to weapons. Personally I blame our uncle."

"Come on, guys," shouted Ruby from down the street.

"Let's make sure she doesn't hurt herself," said Weiss with a sigh.

"Or lost," commented Azula. She turned to the girls of CFVY. "Are you tagging along?"

"Nah," said Coco. "We gotta get back to the others. You girls have fun!" Velvet waved before following her team leader back to Beacon.

What exactly did she do to you," asked Yang once they were out of earshot.

"None of your damn business. Let's just get this over with." Azula looked around as they went where they last saw Ruby. Within moments they found the girl jumping in front of an armorer shop like a kid in front of a toy store. Azula flicked her forehead, making her stop and rub the stinging area. She grinned slightly before making her way into the shop. Team RWBY followed after her and inside they found a man sleeping with his feet on a counter, the sound of clanking in the back of the shop. Azula glared before knocking the man's feet off of the counter, the sudden movement jolting him awake. He looked up at them before sitting up straight.

"Uh… Welcome to _Custom Phalanx_. Quality arms, armor… yada, yada, yada."

"Logan," shouted a woman from the back as the clanking stopped. "Stop butchering my slogan!"

"It sucks, old lady!"

"Old lady?!"

"Hi, Logan," exclaimed Ruby. Logan turned to her and groaned.

"Hilda," he called. "Runt is back!" A woman in her forties came into the front of the shop and grinned as she saw Ruby and Yang.

"Girls," she exclaimed. Azula quirked an eyebrow as the woman wrapped the sisters in one armed hugs. "It's so good to see you two again! How's your uncle?!"

"Hi, Hilda," said Ruby with some effort as she found it hard to breathe. Azula noticed the familiar appearance of soot on the woman's face as well as toned muscles from years of smithing.

"Can't breathe," gasped Yang. Hilda smiled and dropped the two of them. "Everyone, this is Hilda Jellavic. She's a friend of our Uncle Qrow."

"She helped me get the parts to build Crescent Rose," exclaimed Ruby as she brought her scythe to its full length, forcing Azula to calmly duck in the small space to avoid the blade as she hugged her weapon. She turned to the woman.

"I see. Miss Jellavic, I find myself in need of a weapon and a new set of armor. I…" She paused as the blacksmith turned to her and looked her over. Azula stood patiently still as the woman circled her, prodding her in certain areas to feel how her body was built.

"Not many people ask for armor anymore," she said. "Most just rely on their Aura."

"Well I'm the exception. My Aura isn't activated and I don't plan on doing so any time soon. I plan on relying on my natural combat abilities rather than some… cheap tricks."

"What did you have in mind?"

"My old armor looked like this." Azula pulled out her scroll and navigated through until she found an image of her wearing her armor before the Beowolves attacked her, curtesy of Ozpin. Hilda looked at the armor and hummed in thought.

"A basic chest plate with two overlapping pauldrons, greaves with joints protecting the ankles from the front. No armguards?"

"My fighting style is dependent on my mobility and I have a… unique ability to cast lightning from my hands."

"So you'd need a non-conductive metal if I plan on giving you gauntlets. I won't be using this design, however. I'll come up with something different. Do you want to keep the color design."

"I don't care what you do, as long as it suits my needs. Now, as for my weapons."

"Weapons," asked Ruby.

"I have an idea for what I want done." Azula turned to team RWBY. "I can find my way back. You may go."

"May," asked Weiss.

"Entitled little…" growled Yang. Blake sighed and started leaving. The rest of team RWBY followed her.

"Now then," said Azula as she turned back to the blacksmith. "My weapons…"

* * *

After half an hour discussing her weapons, Azula paid the blacksmith and left the shop. She used her memory to get herself back to the main street and heard a strange noise nearby. She moved towards it and saw some people entering and leaving a building where the sound was coming from. She let her curiosity take over and moved to the building. Upon entering she saw people dancing on a large tiled floor someone standing over them at the other end of the room wearing a giant bear mask all the while the noise, she could now guess was this world's music, blared and lights flashed overhead. "It seems I'll have to get used to a lot of things here," she said to herself. She noticed a bar off to the side and walked over to it, taking note of all of the men with swords and guns either standing near the entrance or lounging around the area.

She sat at a stool where the man serving drinks turned to her and looked her up and down. "How can I help you," he asked. Azula looked at him and saw he was middle aged, wearing a black vest over a white shirt with black pants and a red tie around his neck.

"What do you have?"

"For anyone under the legal drinking age? Water and soda."

"Soda?"

"What flavor?" Azula looked at him in confusion. He sighed. "Look kid, you want a soda, I need to know what kind of soda you want."

"Just… give me water." The man rolled his eyes and took a glass before sticking some ice cubes in it and filling it from a nearby tap. He placed it in front of her and went back to cleaning one of the drinking glasses.

"Do you have any weapons on you?"

"No, why?"

"Last girl who came in here with her weapons wrecked the place. Just trying to protect my… income."

"Junior," called a girl from around the corner. Azula looked past him and spotted twins coming into view, one wearing a red dress with clawed gauntlets, the other wearing a white dress with bladed heeled shoes. "Junior," said the girl in white. "That new girl is making a mess of the…" She glanced at Azula. "Product… and is beating any man that comes near her."

"Well deal with her. That's what I pay you two for. Lord knows I can't rely on them." He nodded to men wearing red glasses and black clothes who were flirting, badly, with some of the customers. Azula turned to him.

"I'd be willing to handle it for you," she said as she took a sip of her water.

"What's in it for you?"

"Nothing much. Just the same amount you pay those two. Combined." Jr glared at her.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!"

"Someone who can deal with your problem quickly and…" She glanced behind the girls as another of Jr's goons was tossed against the wall beside them, making them jump and look back at him in surprise. "Quietly. Unless you want a major fight to break out and alert the authorities. Which I'm sure is going to happen if these two lovelies engage in a fight with your… employee." Jr mulled over his options.

"You get paid the same as one of them."

"It's both or I'll personally contact the authorities myself." Junior growled before turning to the girls.

"Melanie, Miltia. Show her to the trouble."

"What," exclaimed the girl in white. "Jr!"

"Do it now!" She glared before turning to Azula and motioned for her to follow with a huff. Azula grinned and followed the twins to the back. She followed them through an office and saw a board with people to look out for, a picture of Yang being highlighted with red arrows and drawn on with black ink, giving her horns, a goatee, and a mustache. She chuckled softly before facing ahead as the white twin glared back at her. As they reached the end of the hall the former fire princess spotted a girl two years older than herself who was currently slamming a man's face into the concrete ground before tossing him away as a circle of Junior's men surrounded her.

"There's the girl." The twins started to walk away. "I hope you fuck up."

"If I fuck up, then you definitely couldn't handle it." Azula smirked at the girl as she huffed angrily and stormed off. Her sister flashed an apologetic look before hurrying after her. Azula turned to the girl and saw her gesturing to the men around her.

"Go on," she shouted. "Come at me ya bastards!" Azula couldn't place her accent and walked over to her. The girl turned to Azula who spotted milky looking pupils and couldn't help comparing her to a certain blind Earthbender. She had shoulder length red hair and a thin yet powerful build. Her grin gave her a feral sort of beauty as she 'looked' around her before focusing on Azula. "Who the bloody hell are you?! You're not one of the Malachites!"

"And you fight pretty well, for a blind girl." The men looked at her in confusion as the girl grinned, her red hair sticking to her sweaty forehead.

"Ya noticed that, did ya?! Not many people acknowledge that kinda thing!"

"Not many people are as observant. So, you've been causing all sorts of trouble around here.

"Aye! What's it to ya?!"

"Junior has just hired me to deal with you."

"Well come at me then! Maybe you can put up a better fight than these wee lassies!"

I said I'd deal with you, I didn't say how. I'm giving you two options to pick from. We can either talk, or we can fight and you follow my demands when I defeat you."

"Confident, aren't ya?!"

"Against a hotheaded buffoon, of course."

"Oh, you are gonna regret that!" The girl grinned and ran for Azula. The former Fire Princess kept a calm look on her face as she avoided her attackers punches and kicks. One landed against a metal beam and caused a serious dent within the construct, alerting Azula to the girl's strength. "You're gonna try and strike a pressure point under me arm and make it useless before kicking me in the stomach to knock me off balance." Azula blinked as her planned course of action was countered by a quick sidestep before an overhead axe kick was primed for her back. Azula rolled out of the way as the girl's leg came down. "Next you're going to pick up a sword from one of Junior's goons and throw it at me followed by… a fireball?!" Azula growled as her opponent avoided both projectiles before pointing at her at the same time as she pointed as well.

"How the hell are you doing that," declared both girls at once, much to Azula's agitation.

"Wouldn't you like to know?!" Azula glared before lightly stepping on the ground, leaving little sound and found the girl seemingly following her slightly with her eyes zeroed in on the Firebender. "Now you're wondering if I can see you despite being blind!" Azula stopped and considered her opponent for a moment before grinning. And now you're…" The girl paused as her brow twitched slightly. Azula smiled sadistically before the girl gripped her head in agony. Azula started charging up her lightning. The girl looked up as she heard a crackling in the air and dove to the side as Azula shot lightning where she used to be standing. Azula rushed forward and planted her foot on the girl's neck before smiling.

"Well, it took me a second, but I figured out your trick. Now, you are going to follow my demands, understand?" The girl struggled to get Azula's boot off her neck before nodding. "Good. You're going to quit Junior's little organization and you are going to join Beacon Academy. Next semester, you are to join my team, understand?" Again a nod. Azula lifted her boot off of her neck and allowed the girl to breathe. "Now, what is your name?" The girl rubbed her neck before looking up at her.

"Radiance. Radiance Aiden." Azula helped her up and shook her head.

"Azula Agni. You're new team leader." Azula turned to the crates the goons were trying to haul and spotted vials of fine grain Dust. She nodded to the goons before leaving, Radiance following after her. Junior looked at her as she and Radiance left the back room and stared. "I'll take my Lien now, Junior. And don't worry your… product… is untouched." Junior stayed silent and handed Azula her money. "Thank you. Consider this Radiance's severance payment as she will no longer be under your employment. She will instead be working with me."

"Take her," said Junior. "She was costing me money anyway."

"Not my fault your boys can't take a wee hit, Old Man," said Radiance with a wild grin. Junior glared at her.

"Just get the hell out of my club. You've got your money, now get out." Radiance gave the Malachite Twins a wink before following Azula out of the club. Radiance turned to Azula.

"Alright, so why the hell should I actually do what you want?"

"Simple. I know your type. You can't wait for your next fight. And you can't help but want to fight someone who's beaten you already, even if it means following their orders so you can stay close and hopefully fight them again. I've encountered your type a number of times. You're stubborn, hotheaded, short sighted, but also not lacking in intelligence. And… you can read minds, so you know where I'm from. I need to keep an eye on you."

"How did you catch on?"

"You trip up your opponents by stating exactly what they're going to do just before they do it. That alone is something someone like myself can do simply by knowing how one fights and observing their stances and habits. You being blind means that option is out. You could make the argument that you have clairvoyance, but you couldn't predict the fireball and the mere fact I could conjure one surprised you. If you were clairvoyant, that wouldn't be a surprise. There was only one option left. I decided to test it by imagining the screams of people burning alive in my head coupled by the pain of dying, a feeling I know all too well, to increase the discomfort." Radiance grinned at her.

"Well, you're a lot smarter than most people that venture into Junior's! Seems like you're going to be a lot of fun to be around, Miss Alien! I think I'll take you up on that offer of joining your team at Beacon!"

"It was an order, not an offer. I could've easily killed you. Your life now belongs to me."

"You and I both know you don't have the heart to kill me in cold blood." Azula glared at her before starting to walk.

"Follow me, Radiance. It's time to enroll you at Beacon."

"Whatever you say, Your Highness." Azula grinned slightly at the familiar words and continued walking along. She grabbed the arm of a girl with pink and brown hair who was shorter than herself and had one pink eye and one brown. The girl was trying to pick her pocket and Azula grinned as she caught the look of surprise on the girl's face.

"A good attempt, but not good enough." Azula looked her up and down. "Hmm. You're interesting to look at, so I'll leave you be. Run along now, Beauty." She smiled slightly at the girl who blushed lightly before turning away and walking off, glancing behind her shoulder to get one last look at Azula before walking off.

"A real charmer, you are."

"I grew up at an all-girls school. I grew used to being attracted to those of the fairer sex."

"Why can't I see anything about that?"

"Now that I'm aware of your Semblance, I'm keeping my mind focused on something other than my memories. To be honest, this will be perfect practice in case I encounter anyone else like yourself. The less people who know where I come from, the better. Realistically, I should've anticipated something like this when I learn of Semblances in the first place."

"I suppose you're trying to keep people from knowing about your psychosis as well?" Azula glared at her new teammate before hurrying along their path. "Struck a chord there, I suppose." Radiance followed after Azula as a pair of green eyes watched them over a video feed. Ozpin hummed to himself before pulling up Azula's record alongside a criminal record of Radiance Aiden and Zane Ro'meave. He pressed a button and their initials moved to make AZR. He smirked to himself before sipping his coffee and closing the feed.


	6. Gear Up

Azula prayed silently before digging into her breakfast. As always, she woke up well before anyone else and started her day before more people could wake up and annoy her. At least that was the plan. She was spreading raspberry jelly onto her slice of toast only to drop it as the doors to the dining hall banged open, startling her. "Azula," shouted Yang. Azula growled before turning to the blonde boxer.

"This better be good if you've woken up this early to bother me," she said.

"It is! Today's Ruby's birthday and I need your help planning a surprise for her!"

"Her birthday?"

"Yep!"

"Spirits. Why are you bothering me about something so trivial?"

"Oh, come on! She turns fifteen today! It only happens once! Come on, I'll let you pick the cake!"

"Leave me alone."

"Not until you agree to help me!" Azula glared at the older girl.

"I'm not going to rid of you until I agree, am I?"

"Nope!" Azula sighed.

"If it'll get you to leave me alone, fine. Allow me to finish my breakfast and…"

"No time!" Azula exclaimed as Yang grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the hall. They walked into town and Azula grumbled beside the blonde as she looked around.

"Why is this so important?"

"Ruby's mom died a few days before her nineth birthday. Since then, she's put on a smile to hide her pain on her birthday. She and Summer were close. When she died, it was just me and Dad. Ruby never wanted us to worry, so she just kept on smiling. Me and Dad caught on soon enough and I decided to surprise her on her birthday. I managed to get ahold of our Uncle Qrow, and we brought her to a place Summer was going to take her. We wanted to make sure she had a good day. Since then, I've been making sure that she smiles on her birthday. I don't want to see Ruby looking as sad as she did when Summer died." Azula glanced at Yang as the girl started to get quiet. "But, anyways. Let's change the subject! So, when's your birthday, Azula?!" Azula stared at her for a second before stopping to think. "Oh come on, you need to think about it?"

Azula thought about this world compared to her own and thought about what she'd learned in the last three months. _'According to one of the books I found, this world follows the same number of days as my own regarding days in a year. Considering when I arrived…'_ she thought before blinking in surprise. "Eight days from now."

"Wait, so you're just a week younger than Ruby?"

"Is that a problem?"

"No, just surprising. Guess we should make it a double party then!"

"No."

"Why not?"

"My birthday is not something to celebrate."

"Why do you say that?"

"It's just a day. Same as any other day." Azula kept walking alongside Yang. "There's nothing special about it." Yang turned to her.

"Why do you think that way?"

"I have my reasons. Where are we going?"

"Right. We're going to a party shop in town. It sells everything we need to throw you two a party."

"Don't include me in this!"

"Aw, come on!" Azula struggled to get out of her grip as the older girl threw her arm around her neck. "You only turn 15 once! And I only have enough money for one party."

"I don't care! And if you include me in this I will find the deepest pit in the world and throw you down it!"

"Can't do that if you can't even break out of this, can you?" Azula growled and held up a flame in her palm before holding it in front of Yang's face.

"Let me go or your bangs get singed!"

"Hey, don't threaten my hair!"

"You two seem to be having fun," said a voice in front of them. Azula looked ahead and spotted Coco and Velvet with their teammates Fox and Yatsuhashi at a shop. "Sup, bitches," asked Coco. Azula pushed Yang away from her before addressing Team CFVY.

"Coco," she said.

"Hey guys," said Yang.

"What are you two doing here," asked Coco. "On a date?"

"Nope. We're planning a birthday party for Ruby and Azula."

"Only for Ruby," said Azula. "Don't listen to her."

"Your birthday is coming up," asked Velvet.

"In seven days," said Yang.

"Don't you want to celebrate, Azula?" The firebender glanced at her before crossing her arms.

"I don't celebrate my birthday. It's not worth celebrating."

"Why do you think that?"

"Does it matter?" Azula turned to Yang. "Can we get going?"

"Uh, sure," said Yang. "See you guys later!" She waved at CFVY before the two of them started walking away. "Why is your birthday something you avoid?"

"It's none of your business, Xiao Long."

"You know you have to open up to us eventually. We're friends after all." Azula stopped in her tracks and turned to Yang.

"Let me make one thing absolutely clear. I am not friends with anyone here. I have no need for friends. All friends are good for is stabbing you in the back when you should have their absolute loyalty!"

"_Is that truly what you think, Azula,"_ came the now familiar voice of Ursa. _"They've welcomed you and treated you as a friend should. Don't you see them as friends as well?"_

"Shut up." Azula gripped her head.

"I didn't say anything," said Yang, worriedly.

"_They want to get to know you, Azula. Just let them in,"_ said Ursa.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up," she shouted.

"Azula," asked Yang. She placed a hand on the Firebender's shoulder and Azula lashed out, shooting a jet of flame past her. Azula breathed heavily before dropping her stance and backing away.

"Don't touch me." Azula steadied her breathing and sat on the curb of the street, head in her hands. Yang looked at her worriedly.

"A-are you ok?"

"Just leave me alone. Go plan your sisters party yourself. Leave me out of it." Azula refused to look at the blonde and kept her eyes focused on an ant beside her boot. Yang cast a worried glance at the girl before walking away. Azula waited a few paces before growling and crushing the ant under her boot.

"What is wrong with you," asked a gruff voice above her. Azula looked up and spotted Zane Ro'Meave looking at her from the balcony of a café.

"None of your business." Zane stared her down for a moment.

"Come up here. You look like you could use some tea." Azula glared as Zane disappeared from sight at the sound of finality in his voice. She stood up and glanced where Yang had walked off to and spotted a blonde silhouette walking away several yards down the street. "Are you coming or what?" Azula cast a glare back in his direction before stepping inside the café. She noticed it was a themed café and its interior reminded her of the Fire Nation. Over the counter with the register were a number of kanji she could recognize.

"'Family. Honor. Redemption.' How are kanji here?"

"Agni. Over here." Azula turned to a set of stairs and followed after Zane, taking note of the attire he was wearing, no doubt the uniform of this place. Zane poured some tea into a porcelain cup for Azula as she sat down and glanced at her. "Mind telling me what that was all about?"

"As I said before, it's none of your business."

"You shooting fire at one of our classmates, hell one of your teammates, is concerning. As a loyal knight, it's my duty to report this to our headmaster."

"You will do no such thing, Ro'Meave."

"And why shouldn't I? What I saw back there was clear signs of a mental break. If you are unfit to lead a team…"

"Stay out of this!" Nearby candles flared as her anger caused the flames to rise. "This does not concern you!"

"I think it does if we're going to be forced onto the same team!" Azula looked at him before settling back in her seat.

"And what makes you think that?"

"The moment I missed orientation; the writing was on the wall. All of the teams had been formed and only one had two leaders as a result. Once Ozpin pointed that out to me, I knew you and I would be forced onto the same team next semester." Azula grinned inwardly at her fortune. Seems she wouldn't have to coerce him to join her team after all. "But let me make this clear right now, Azula. I won't follow someone unstable. Either get your mind in working order or leave Beacon."

"It that a threat, Zane?"

"No. More of a promise. If I see you're unfit to lead, I will report this to Ozpin. Because it means you're a threat to me, the other students and to yourself. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal." Azula finally sipped her tea and stared at it before making a face. "This is not tea! It's just hot leaf juice!"

"That's all tea is."

"Tea making is an art! If you're going to be my butler…"

"Butler?!"

"I'll have to instruct you in how to properly make tea!" Azula glared at the cup. "Passing this off as tea. The owner should be ashamed!" Azula poured out the rest of her cup to the street below, ignoring the comment of someone who was drenched in the process. "If that is all, Ro'Meave, I need to see a smith about my weapons and armor." Azula stood up and walked away, leaving Zane grumbling. As Azula left, Zane sat down as a man walked from behind a curtain by the stairs.

"She is aggravating. Why am I being made a butler?"

"You'll have to forgive my niece," said an old man with a long grey beard. "She can be rather stubborn when she sets her mind to something."

"Was it really necessary to hide yourself from her, Sensei?" The man nodded as he sat in Azula's former seat.

"Unfortunately, yes. Azula must start a slow and deliberate effort to change. And until the time is right, she can't know that the Spirits sent me here to help guide her to her destiny as I did her brother in our old world."

"How would she react if she learned about you?"

"Angrier than a viper hornet at the thought that the Spirits didn't trust her like they said so. Azula doesn't take kindly to being deceived. If she is to embrace her new destiny, it has to be on her own. Otherwise, we'll be dealing with a very angry, and crazy Azula. She's headstrong and stubborn. She won't listen to the spirits if she feels they don't trust her." He poured some tea and took a sip before spitting it out. "But at least she knows good tea." Zane sighed as he wiped himself dry.

"I'll try again…" Zane took the pot and walked into the kitchen as his sensei smiled before glancing at the figure of Azula walking away from the café.

* * *

The former Fire Princess walked to the blacksmith and spotted the same man once again asleep at the counter. "Miss Jelavic," she called out.

"Back here," called the smith. "Logan! Get off your lazy ass and greet the customer." Logan shot up in his seat.

"Welcome to _Custom Phalanx_. Quality arms, armor, yada, yada."

"One less yada," said Azula. "I feel so special." Hilda walked out and smacked Logan upside the head.

"Stop messing up the slogan," she said.

"Stop putting me at the front counter," he muttered.

"If you think I'm allowing you anywhere near the equipment, you're wrong!" She turned to her and smiled. "Welcome back, Miss Agni. Here for your gear?"

"I am. I hope it's worth the Lien I spent for them."

"I hope so. Otherwise I'll need to follow my slogan and give you your money back."

"Maybe we should keep that out of the slogan," muttered Logan as he went back to napping. Azula tripped up the chair, sending him to the ground. "Hey!"

"You work for the woman. She is your boss. She deserves your respect." Azula ignited one of her palms. "Got it?" Logan muttered and sat in the chair properly.

"For that I'll give you a discount on your next purchase," said Hilda. "Come on back!" Azula followed Hilda and noticed that there was a pile of scrap in the corner that wasn't there before. "Those were the first few attempts at your equipment. Didn't feel quite right until this last one." Hilda removed a piece of cloth from its position blocking a table and revealed Azula's new armor first.

Rather than the traditional Fire Nation armor she had been revived with, this armor was slimmer and framed for her figure perfectly. The pauldrons weren't as wide or protruding as her previous armor had been and were framed more closely around her slim shoulders as the chest plate was shaped to comfortably fit her bust without the need of using chest wrappings. Her greaves and boots were given the same treatment and didn't seem as bulky as the old pairs. Hilda had even gone so far as to make the greaves longer and covering all of her legs as the chest plate went to her waist rather than just her upper body. The black tunic that accompanied the old armor was gone, instead showing off the design of the armor itself. Instead of the loose-fitting pants, a pair of form fitting pants were given for Azula to wear to protect her skin from rubbing against the greaves. Hilda had done away with the red cloth and gold etching of the clothes and armor respectively, opting for a dark blue color for the shirt and pants and giving the armor a silver trimming with intricate flame designs rather than the old gold. Azula's old belt had been replaced as well with a silver one to match the armor, the flame sigil in the buckle now colored white with a blue outline. The gauntlets extended up to her elbows and were colored the same as the armor with fingerless gloves for her hands.

Azula examined the armor with a keen eye and placed her hand on it. "No metal," she asked.

"Metal's fine and dandy if you're going off against normal people with swords and axes. Against people with Semblances, bullets, and whatever Grimm you may face, it's brittle and can easily conduct heat and electricity. Instead, I made the armor out of special material. Modern ballistic weave. Lighter than metal and tough enough to handle a full power swipe from an Alpha Ursa as well as high caliber weapons like rifles similar to Ruby's. Though try not to take too many hits. The armor can withstand constant small caliber hits, but the larger bullets and constant strikes will wear it down. Same with Ursa claws. I suggest you keep moving and try and win quickly."

"How I prefer doing things. When you say lighter…"

"I mean by a good 60 pounds. Your old armor weighed about 90+ pounds with the cuirass weighing the most. Now it only weighs 36 pounds and offers more protection from the more advanced weapons outside of your village. For comfort while wearing it, Arachno silk. Not only is it smoother than normal spider silk, it's tougher as well."

"And my weapons?"

"Those were trickier. The larger one was simple. Retractable staff, extendable blade, child's play. The smaller ones, however, took a little more finesse." Hilda moved a second curtain and showed another table this one housing her weapons. The first was a naginata. A large staff with a wide blade 7 inches long. The staff was colored black and had a dark blue flag close to the blade. Beside the naginata was a couple of fans. Azula had thought back to the Kyoshi Warriors and their signature fans as she told Hilda what she wanted done. The two war fans were made of silver and its tipped were sharpened blades. The material was the same as her new leggings and colored white with blue flames decorating the bottom. Azula took the fans and gave them a flick, extending them to their full width and examined them before going through a basic kata of the Kyoshi Warrior forms she learned after finding a scroll in one of their belongings before going to Ba Sing Se. "That's an unusual form."

"Tessenjutsu was practiced in my village," Azula lied. "It's an old art, one developed more for ceremonial purposes. It was later adapted for combat and I learned what I could out of curiosity." Azula folded the fans and aimed one at a mannequin. "I had them designed as they are to ensure I could effectively use my fighting style while having an easily concealed weapon at hand when not using my naginata." She turned fully to Hilda. "And the extra thing?"

"No idea why you'd want that, but I put it in as asked."

"This is why." Azula unfolded a fan and threw it, allowing it to spin and cut the mannequin as it passed. She focused a small amount of lightning through her fingers. The fan circled back and Azula caught it without fail before closing it. "Upon coming to Vale, I learned a lot about modern technology. One of the key things I found fascinating were magnets. Along with fire I can also conjure lightning from my fingertips."

"So you have magnets at the base of your fans as a midrange attack and recall system."

"That is correct."

"I never would have thought of that."

"Nor would anyone else without my abilities."

"Unless you're Pyrrha Nikos, of course."

"Why Pyrrha?"

"She tries to hide it, but her Semblance is obvious. She has control over magnetic polarity. I watched one of her tournaments and she tries hiding it, but there's a slight bending of the metal most people don't notice. But my Semblance is what helps me notice things like that and why my smith work is as good as it is. Magnifying sight. It allows me to see the smallest imperfections in my work and others. Pyrrha uses her Semblance to gently push her opponents' weapons off course just slightly enough that they don't notice. But I can."

"Interesting. So she could easily do the same thing as I planned."

"And a lot more. If she wanted, she could send someone flying with a gesture and get an automatic ring out by repelling their armor or weapons."

"Which would lead some people to adopt your methods in crafting if only to counter that. Which leads me to ask why you haven't capitalized on that knowledge."

"I'm not trying to ruin the girl's life. It's not worth the increasing profit it might bring my store, especially if more people start trying to copy me. Then I lose money."

"Hmm. A smart decision then." Azula handed Hilda her card. "As agreed, the rest of the money as per our agreement."

"Let me charge you then." Hilda walked up a set of stairs as Azula set the war fans down. She ran her hand over the armor and nodded as she examined it once more, a ghost of a smile crossing her face as she spotted a replica of her normal headpiece. Instead of gold, it was a blue flame made of metal with a rainbow shine to it. "Azula! I think you have a problem!" Azula turned to the stairs before walking up them and to Hilda's location. "Did you make any major purchases recently?"

"No, why?"

"Then I think your account has been hacked."

"Hacked? What does that mean?"

"It means someone has gotten into the digital files of your account and stolen your money." Azula scowled at the screen in front of her and saw the words 'transaction canceled fraudulent charges detected'.

"How can I find this person and make them pay?"

"Bring it up to the police and let them handle it."

"And how long would that take?"

"It could take a long time if they can't find them right away." Azula growled and shot a fireball into Hilda's smelter. She breathed deeply before turning to her.

"Can you hold onto the equipment until I have the funds."

"You've already put a down payment on them. Just keep them."

"Just take them? Just like that?"

"Of course I expect the money to be paid in month to month increments to pay it off. But I'm not about to keep these from you. A Huntress without her weapons and armor is as good as dead."

"Thank you, I suppose."

"No need for thanks. Just keep your payments coming until the armor and weapons are paid off and come to me for any improvements and modifications you may need." Azula nodded before taking the armor into a fitting room and getting it on. She looked at herself in the mirror and couldn't help but smile at how she looked. She went back to the table and hooked the war fans to her belt while retracting the blade of her naginata and the pole and inserting it in a slot on her belt at the back. Hilda smiled at her. "See you soon, Azula."

"Hopefully not too soon." Azula started walking out of the shop and pushed Logan's feet down again. "Logan." The lazy man flipped her off before rubbing his head as Hilda smacked him upside the head again.

She wandered back to the main street and looked around before hearing her scroll beep. She noticed a new message and opened it. [Pleasure to meet you, Princess Azula]: she read. Azula looked around before looking up at a camera trained on her. Her scroll beeped again, and she looked at the message. [We'll meet in person soon. I can guarantee it. L.] Azula was then sent a video feed of the very camera she was looking at looking right at her and a secret camera in Ozpins office showing her telling Ozpin who she was. Azula scowled at the camera once more before walking away.

In a messy apartment in Vale a girl with pixie cut hair dyed vibrant pink chuckled to herself. "Oh, messing with her is almost as fun as planting a virus into Atlas' servers. See you soon, Azula." She smiled to herself before spinning around in her chair laughing joyously as her program kept a careful track of Azula's movements.


	7. Internal Struggle

Azula yawned as she woke up and found that it was well past the normal time of her wake-up call and looked outside to see it was raining without any ray of sunshine in sight. "Dammit," she muttered. She sat up and found her temporary team was out and about. "I should burn them for letting me sleep in." She got up and changed into a basic outfit, a dark red t-shirt with a pair of dark jeans. She wished she could free carry her new weapons, but those were locked away in her locker in the training rooms. Weapons were evidently not allowed outside of class demonstrations, training, or mock missions. She did her hair up using the gold hairpin instead of the blue and left.

She exited her dorm and locked it behind her before turning back around and spotting Nora Valkyrie right in front of her. Three inches from her face. "Hello," sang the hyperactive girl.

"You have exactly three seconds to back away."

"Oh, don't be like that, Azula!"

"What do you want?"

"I want to spar with you." Azula considered her for a moment.

"Why?"

"Because Pyrrha and Jaune are nowhere to be found and Ren won't train with me without someone to 'act as a buffer' anymore." Azula sighed.

"Fine. But allow me to eat first. I need to gain some energy since I woke up to rain instead of the sun."

"Fine by me!" Azula quirked an eyebrow as Nora gasped with glee before exclaiming. "It's pancake day!"

"And what, pray tell, are pancakes?" Nora gave her a looked that screamed 'blasphemy' before grabbing her sleeve and pulling her to the cafeteria. Upon sitting down, Nora placed a plate stacked high with flat pastries and what looked like sap dripping down it. "What are these?"

"Only the best food in the world!" Azula glanced in front of her and spotted three plates of pancakes.

"Surely you're not that hungry."

"It's pancakes, Azula!"

"The way you act I'd think it was more like opium." Azula watched as Nora wolfed down a single pancake and shook her head before grabbing a knife and fork. Azula cut into the top pancake and took a bite. She blinked in surprise as she found it rather pleasant in taste, if a bit sweet from the sap."

"What do you think?!" Azula cast a glance at her before cutting another piece.

"It's not the worst thing I've tasted." Nora pouted as she took another bite. "Why did you really ask me to spar with you?"

"Like I said, no one else to turn to!"

"Your nose twitches lightly when you lie, you know." Nora covered her nose on instinct and Azula smirked. Nora sighed.

"I just want to get to know you."

"Why? I've made it clear to even my own team I don't intend on being friends with anyone. There's no reason for us to get to know each other."

"You know making friends is part of life, right?"

"It's a pointless part. Friends are worthless."

"Those girls must've really hurt you for you to think that." Azula frowned and set down her knife and fork, images of Ty Lee and Mai flashing in her mind as a sharp pain spiked her chest.

"I've suddenly lost my appetite." Azula pushed her plate away and stood up. "Find someone else to spar with you. I'm not in the mood."

"But Azula…"

"Have fun, Nora." Azula walked away and found Radiance leaning against the wall next to the exit when she stepped through the doors. "What?"

"You know you're going to have to tell them eventually," said the feral girl. "Otherwise you're a hypocrite for holding Blake's secret against her."

"I will do as I wish." She turned to her. "Why are you suddenly interested in me keeping my secret?"

"You're cyber friend L. If they know who you are and where you are from because of a hidden camera in Ozpin's office, they could easily leak it to anyone and then your secret is out there, and you'll be hunted. I'm not about to let you get taken by people with an alien fetish before we have a proper rematch. You tell them, they help you find L because they're more knowledgeable of this world than you certainly are, and once L is done away with, your secret is safe. Well, Rose and Valkyrie might start yappin as soon as they get started." Azula sighed as she realized the logic behind Radiance's words.

"And how do you suggest we find L?"

"One of the Malachite's is a hacker. She can track L and we go from there. But L's bound to expect company if they're calling you out, so we need help. We best get it over with as soon as possible. Otherwise this is going to mean a life of hiding for you, Miss Guardian."

"You know I'm not going to live up to the Spirits' wishes, so do not call me that."

"Will you tell them or not?" Azula thought it over before nodding.

"Your argument is sound. But I'll only tell Team RWBY and Zane Ro'Meave."

"Why him?"

"He'll be our teammate. Better he knows now what he's getting himself into if he's to trust us."

"The bampot is a 'noble' knight. He has no choice but to trust you then. Knights used to protect lords, ladies and royalty." Azula smirked.

"Then I suppose being a princess of the Fire Nation will finally have some benefits in this world."

"'Former' Fire Princess."

"Thank you, Radiance, for reminding me of that fact."

"Just keepin' ya grounded." Radiance pulled out her scroll and hit a button. "Call the milk-drinking plookie."

"I'm assuming those are insults."

"Aye."

"Who is this," asked Zane.

"Jessie. Head to Ozpin's office. Azula's orders."

"My name is…"

"Shut it! We both work for her now. Do as she says!"

"Why are we going to Ozpin's office," asked Azula.

"To keep people like Winchester from learnin' yer secret."

"Why do you insist on making sense now?"

"Because you are preoccupied with your mental state and repressed emotions and how your Bending is affected by them." Azula's lips twitched in slight annoyance. Radiance flinched slightly. "Oi! Stop with the imagery!"

"Mention my mental health again and you'll get much worse." Azula sighed before looking at her future teammate. "Why mention it, anyway?"

"Far be it from me to worry about my own wellbeing. You're scary enough as it is. You when your fuckin' batshite? No fuckin' thank you." The Firebender frowned before starting to walk away as she sent a message to Ruby to bring the team and that there was something she needed to tell them. "Come on, we should head to Ozpin's office first to make sure we can find that damn camera."

"Alright. Let's find your stalker's equipment."

Ozpin looked up in surprise as well as Glynda and a man Azula had never seen before. He had a long grey coat and dark hair with a five o' clock shadow. Azula noted a sword on his back in the same position Ruby kept Crescent Rose in and a single sniff alerted her to the smell of alcohol coming from his direction. "Miss Agni," said Ozpin. "To what do I owe this unexpected visit?"

Qrow, for his part, kept his surprise to a minimum. Ozpin had told him about the mysterious girl from another world. What he really was surprised by was her eyes. They were the exact same shade as the woman who attacked Amber, the Fall Maiden, who was currently down in the Vault beneath the school. Not just in color, but in the cold way she addressed him. Calculating. Observant. Dangerous. If it weren't for the fact that the very feeling of this Azula was different than that woman, Qrow would've attacked her on sight. "This must be the little alien girl," he said. Azula turned to Ozpin, unsurprised.

"Anyone else in your inner circle you have told about me," she asked as Ozpin gave Qrow a look of annoyance.

"Just Qrow and Glynda are aware of your actual origins. There's only one other person in my inner circle aware of your presence but he was given the same story you gave your friends," said Ozpin.

"Teammates. I do not have any friends."

"Too bad," said Qrow. "It's good to have people you can trust in your corner. And you can't trust anyone more than your friends."

"That's where your wrong. I find 'friends' are only good for letting you down and betraying you. You can't trust them. They will always pick someone else over you." Radiance turned her head to Qrow and stared for a second before shaking her head. Azula and Ozpin took notice and Azula stepped forward. "To answer your question, Ozpin, it's a twofold answer. The first is your office has been compromised. I know this because a hacker stole my money and made it clear they knew who I was and where I was from. They even showed me footage of me in this office telling you my story." Azula pointed to the general area where the footage was shot from and Qrow looked around before pulling out his sword and firing a shot. A crash could be heard by everyone but Azula who growled as she covered her ears as the gunshot echoed in the room. "Bastard!"

"What's wrong with you," asked Qrow.

"Her hearing is not as accustomed to the sound of firearms as ours are, Qrow," said Ozpin. "In fact, firearms had not been invented by her world, yet. Explosives, yes. But not firearms that use compressed explosives to push forward projectiles. Their Bending meant it wasn't needed." Azula glared at Qrow before turning to Ozpin.

"The second reason," she said. "Is I am going after the hacker, L. But Radiance reminded me I still have a lot to learn about this world. I need help. And I need people who trust me enough to help. For that reason, I'm telling Team RWBY as well as Zane Ro'Meave, who I've decided to allow onto my team, my true origins."

"Is that wise?"

"It can't be helped. With this L knowing of my secret and potentially releasing it to the world, they may find out eventually. Besides, far be it from me to be hypocritical about secrets, given I've been lording over Blake about hers."

"You're a piece of work, you know that," said Qrow.

"If you mean a work of art, then yes." Qrow shook his head and turned to Ozpin.

"I should get out of here and get back to work before the girls arrive. See ya, Oz." Azula watched him hop out of a window and hummed to herself as a black bird flew past the window a moment later. Not long after, the elevator dinged and Azula turned around to see her team, Team JNPR and Zane in the elevator.

"Why are they here?" Azula met Ruby's eyes and stared her down, pressing for answers.

"Nora told us something was troubling you. We're your friends too," said Jaune. "Whatever you have to tell them you can tell us as well." Azula scoffed.

"Friends? Let me be clear, since the last hundred times were not sufficient. I am no one's friend. Least of all any of you." She looked each of them in the eye. She ignored the image of her mother appear among the group behind Ruby and moved to stand beside Ozpin. "Team JNPR, leave."

"No," said Jaune.

"Excuse me?"

"You're not our leader," said Pyrrha. "Jaune is. And he wants us to be there for you like Team RWBY is." Azula growled softly.

"You are all annoying to no end."

"Azula," said Ruby. "Let them stay. They can listen to this as well." Silver eyes met gold and Azula glared at her co-captain before growling some more.

"Why must all of you be so insufferable?!"

"Because we care." Azula chuckled darkly.

"You 'care'? Don't force feed me bullshit, Ruby."

"Hey," started Yang.

"No one cares about anyone but themselves. You care about me? You're a damn liar then. If I have learned anything from being alive, it's that no one cares for anyone! We're all just out for ourselves!"

"That is not true," said Zane. "That may have been the case where you're from, but it's not here, Agni. Here, there is peace, understanding, and acceptance."

"Don't delude yourself!" Azula glared at all of the teens in front of her. "Peace? If there is peace, why are the Grimm still a threat? Understanding and acceptance? Tell me, Ro'Meave, do people understand or accept the Faunus?" Blake's eyes shot open slightly at this. "I've done some reading. The Faunus are treated like crap by many people, unsurprisingly, by those among the Atlas high class. They are not accepted there. They're servants, at the worst, slaves. And the White Fang are no better. If given the chance, those Faunus will just flip the tables and put humans in the collar. Because in the end, it's as I said. People are only looking after themselves."

"You're wrong," exclaimed Ruby. "That's why we're all here, at Beacon! To help people!"

"I'm here because Azula gave me no choice," said Radiance.

"I don't think now is the time for that," said Glynda.

"And in doing so you make yourself feel better," said Azula. "Face it. You trying to become a Huntress is just for yourself!"

"You're wrong," said Ruby and the image of Ursa. Azula gripped her head.

"Shut up," she muttered under her breath. Yang stood in between Ruby and Azula, recognizing the behavior from the previous day.

"Azula," said Yang. "What's going on?"

"She has schizophrenia," said Zane. "She sees images that aren't there."

"Shut up," exclaimed Azula as she aimed a flame at him. Zane placed his hand on the ground, and it rose up to form a shield, blocking the orange flames. Once more, Azula noted her stance was improper and she started growling. "Not right. It's not right," she muttered to herself.

"Azula," asked Ruby. Radiance shook her head.

"Her mind is breaking again, Professor," she said, turning to Ozpin.

"Glynda, get a sedative for Azula, please," said the headmaster, calmly. Azula lost all sight of everything as an image of Ozai appeared in front of her and Ursa's image stood aside.

"Fix your stance," 'he' demanded.

"Azula," 'Ursa' said. "You don't have to listen to him, anymore.

"Silence! She knows her place! She will do as I say!"

"Azula, you don't have to follow him anymore!"

"Go through the Northern Dragon form and do not stop until I say so, Azula!"

"Get down," shouted Zane as Azula started going through a kata, trying to correct her form. Flames shot over the head of everyone as Glynda opened a drawer to get a sedative.

"Azula," shouted 'Ursa'.

"Silence," shouted 'Ozai'. "Again, Azula!" The Firebender hesitated. Ruby watched as Azula visibly flinched before going through the kata again. 'Ursa' moved to Azula's back.

"Listen, to me, please. He has no hold over us. Not anymore. Nothing we ever did mattered to him."

Ruby rushed over to Glynda and took the syringe before to Azula and hugging her from behind. "Azula," she muttered. "Come on, listen to me."

"You're not alone anymore, Azula," said Ursa as her own arms moved around Azula, pinning her arms to her sides as Azula struggled, Ozai, her mind's manifestation of the life she was forced to live by her father; a life of forced perfection, emptiness, loneliness, and the fear he instilled in her to act how he wanted glared down at her.

"We're here for you, Azula." Ruby kept the syringe ready incase Azula needed to be fully sedated in the event of another outburst. "Please, just calm down."

"Ozai is a world away." Azula shook her head as she tried to fix her form. "He's not here." Azula vaguely noticed 'Ursa's' voice shift to her own. "We don't have to behave how he wanted. We don't have to hold back. We don't have to keep up a mask of indifference. There's no one to fear here. There's no reason to keep people at a distance anymore. Look around us. There are people who are genuinely scared _for_ us, not _of_ us. This isn't the Fire Nation. There aren't any generals to keep in place. We don't need to set an example!"

"Know your place," shouted Ozai.

"Look at the difference between us then and now. There was no passion in anything we did, only precision and unfeeling attacks. Since we've arrived here, there has been a clear difference in how we act and fight. We're not just going through practiced motions. We're doing as we please without needing to be perfect. Since our fight with Zuzu, we've finally opened the floodgates. Let our emotions out and not let our fear and anger control us. You need to stop. He has no power here."

"Azula, you're form must be perfect! You will obey me!" Azula noticed another shift in voices. She opened her eyes and saw 'Ozai' had become the version of her she hated. Broken, disheveled, crazy. A Monster. Her on the day of her coronation "Listen to me!"

"Azula," asked Ruby as the Firebender's body went still and she stared off into space.

"That is what he made us," muttered Azula to herself. "An uncaring, crazed beast."

"We can change that," said 'Ursa' Azula. "They can change that." Azula looked around and met the eyes of each person in the room. "Just let them in. We've been happier here with them in the last few months than we ever were under _his_ thumb, and you know it."

'Ozai' Azula growled and attacked them. Azula cried out as her head experienced a searing pain and slumped over in Ruby's arms. "Azula," exclaimed the silver-eyed girl.

"What happened," asked Weiss.

"Azula has a bit of a fractured mind," said Radiance. "It stemmed from her father's control over her and how it dominated every aspect of her life up to the point where she fought her brother. Her conscience trying to get her to stop her more threatening actions keeps taking the form of her mother. Then Ruby started sounding like her, started bringing out more memories of her past. What that past is you'll need to ask her when she wakes up."

"What triggered this break," asked Zane.

"I just said it was the runt, ya bampot. But she's been struggling with the change in lifestyle for months now since she wound up here."

"We should move her to the infirmary," said Ozpin as he stood up. "Make sure she gets some proper rest and some medicine. It looks like she's starting to get a fever." Ruby looked at Azula and saw her face was starting to turn red and sweat was accumulating on her forehead. She hurried her to the elevator and rapidly pressed the button to head down. Zane opted to take the stairs down making the excuse that the elevator would be packed and pulled out his scroll as he made his descent down.

"Sensei," he said into it. "I think she's starting to change. She just had a mental breakdown after arguing with her friends, even if she doesn't want to admit what they are. Now she has a fever."

"_Keep an eye on her for me, Zane,"_ said the voice on the other side of the call. _"She'll need as much help as possible to get through this."_

"Yes, sir. When should I bring her to you?"

"_Only when she's facing a worse inner crisis than this one. She must face herself before she must face her destiny. Keep me informed, Zane."_

"Of course, Sensei Iroh." Zane hung up before rubbing his eyes. "This is going to be a pain, I just know it."


	8. The Confession

Ruby sat by Azula in the infirmary. It had been about a week since Azula's outbreak in Ozpin's office and finally the fever had gone away. Azula had been in and out of consciousness and barely registered her surroundings in that time. She looked up as the door opened and Ozpin stood in the doorway. "Back again, Miss Rose," he asked.

"Yes, Professor," replied Ruby. "What's wrong with her?"

"It could very well be something she picked up while being here. We're not sure."

"Why is she just now showing symptoms, then?"

"I'm afraid I don't know, Miss Rose." Ruby turned to Azula as she heard her co-captain groan and start shifting in the bed.

"Azula?" The Firebender covered her eyes as the fluorescent lights were the first thing she saw.

"Could someone please turn off those lights," she asked with a groan. Ozpin dimmed them and approached the bed as Ruby hugged the girl. Azula glared at the ceiling. "Ruby… You have three seconds to stop strangling me."

"Oh, sorry!"

"How are you feeling, Miss Agni," asked Ozpin. Azula sighed.

"Like hell," said Azula. She blinked as she shifted her legs and felt something off. "What the hell do I fell between my legs?"

"That would be a catheter. You've been asleep for a week. We've had to keep you hydrated and prevent you from soiling the bed. That IV stand was injecting fluids into your system through your vein." Azula looked at her arm and glared at the needle sticking out of it attached to a long tube.

"Get. These. Out."

"I'll call the nurse to do so."

"Great. I can wait another year with these in." Ozpin left the infirmary and Azula glared as she heard a faint chuckle as he did.

"Are you sure you're ok," asked Ruby.

"Did I have a fever?"

"What?"

"While I was out of it. Did I have a fever?"

"You did." Azula sighed.

"I thought I felt differently."

"What do you mean?"

"Back home this happened to a few people. I wouldn't be surprised if this happened to my brother at some point. It occurs when someone goes through… I suppose you could call it a spiritual shift. In times of internal conflict, it makes the body sick as the mind and spirit start to balance out." Azula held up her hand and lit a flame. Instead of the cold blue Ruby had grown used to seeing, her flames were a deep red. "I'm still working on some issues. My flames reflect that. I'm nowhere near as… calm as I was before."

"That was calm," asked a voice at the door. Azula looked up and spotted Zane and Radiance.

"Come for a peek at more, Ro'Meave."

"W-what?! No! I…"

"She's teasin' ya, Jessie," said Radiance.

"I told you, that's not my name!"

"I know it's not yer name, ya nyaff…"

"Enough," said Azula. "I've just woken up. I'm not in the mood for this. I take it you just passed Ozpin."

"That's why we were coming," said Zane.

"Well you can wait a bit more, Ro'Meave. Unless seeing them remove this catheter is something you wish to see as some sort of fetish." Azula smirked as she spotted a blush just over his ever-present mask.

"I… no… I…" Zane glared at her. "I hate you."

"Noted."

"What's a fetish," asked Ruby. There was a second of silence before Azula genuinely laughed at the girl's naivete, a sight Ruby hadn't seen before and smiled at as Zane shook his head while Radiance chuckled.

"Ruby, we are the same age, yes?"

"Uh…"

"Wait, it's been a week, hasn't it?" Ruby nodded. "I guess we are now, considering my birthday was two days ago."

"That's right! Wait here!" Ruby sped out of the room.

"I doubt I can go anywhere!"

"You seem different," said Radiance.

"Well when you've spent a week trying to get over an internal struggle, you tend to feel a bit lighter." Azula blinked as a petal hit her eye as Ruby returned with a few of boxes in her arms stacked haphazardly above her head. "Ruby…"

"Uh," said the scythe wielder. "Little help?"

"Well don't just stand there, you two. Help her before I get crushed by… whatever those are."

"What," asked Radiance. "Like this?"

"Don't you d…" Azula exclaimed as Radiance tipped the boxes onto her with a grin. Ruby stared at the box in her arms.

"One of those was the cake," she said, slightly disappointed.

"Why was it at the top," exclaimed Zane as he spotted it had landed on Azula's head.

"I didn't know which box was which! Yang wrapped all of them!"

"You don't wrap the cake!"

"How did it come out of the wrapping," asked Radiance as Ozpin, Glynda and the nurse walked in as Azula wiped cake out of her eyes and glared at Radiance as the nurse removed the IV. The blind girl started shivering before shaking her head. "Alright! Stop! That was worse than the viscera!"

"What did she show you," asked Zane.

"Rainbows and puppies."

"That's worse than viscera?!"

"I… SHUT IT!"

"Why puppies and rainbows," asked Ruby.

"She hates them more than I do," said Azula. "I noticed it when we passed a child in the street the other day who was drawing and Radiance visibly recoiled when she saw her thoughts." She tried the cake and spit it out. "Is this supposed to be salty?!"

"Oops. My bad."

"Mr. Ro'Meave," said the nurse. "Ozpin. Leave. I need to remove the catheter."

"Of course," said Ozpin. "Zane, come with me please." Zane nodded and followed the headmaster out as Ruby helped Azula pick the cake from her hair.

"I take it this was supposed to be for me when I woke up," asked Azula.

"Yeah," said Ruby. "We all got presents that we thought you would like. I helped bake the cake."

"That was obvious. Leave it to you to mistake salt and sugar when they're clearly labeled."

"All done," said the nurse as she threw the catheter into a waste disposal bin. "You're clothes have been stored away into the locker by your bed. I suggest you start getting used to walking again before you leave the room."

"Of course." The nurse nodded before leaving the room. Azula stood up and Ruby caught her as Azula's legs cramped up from not being used. "Thank you," she grunted.

"You're welcome," said Ruby.

"I hate being dependent on people. But I kept finding myself in that situation when I found myself here." Azula sighed. "I should apologize. I've been falling back on my methods from the Fire Nation and couldn't fully adjust to this… unusual setting, to me." Radiance facepalmed and shook her head as Ruby stared at Azula in confusion.

"What's the Fire Nation?"

"That… is what I was going to tell you all before my…" She cleared her throat. "…Episode. My past. All of it. And then… I need your help."

"Should I call the others?"

"Not until I can walk on my own, which will take a few hours. We need to be in a secure area before I tell you. Some place without any wandering or hidden eyes. I swear, the more I learn about your technology, the more I understand and don't understand, and I hate it."

"How do you think I feel," muttered Radiance as Ozpin and Zane returned.

"I think it's more your lack of intelligence that confuses you, Aiden."

"Oi!"

"Enough," said Azula as she sat down on her bed. "You're both going to be on my team. I suggest you both get along or I will make you." Azula held up a red flame.

"Somehow that's less intimidating without your blue flames," said Zane.

"Is it?"

"Yeah," said Ruby. Azula sighed.

"I suppose I'll have to try new methods of compliance then. Is there something you needed, Professor?" Azula turned to Ozpin.

"Simply checking up on one of my more promising students, Miss Agni," said Ozpin. "Now then, you three, we should leave Azula alone to recuperate on her own before she rejoins us. Azula, let me know when you wish to tell your friends about your secret, and I'll let you use my office again." Azula nodded and Zane set a tea set on the table next to her.

"You didn't make that, did you?"

"No," groaned Zane. "My instructor did. He said it would help you relax and help with recuperating. I'll take you're gifts to Team RWBY's room. Enjoy you're tea." Azula sighed as they left and poured herself a cup of tea. She took a sip and stared at the drink in surprise. It was familiar to her and prepared perfectly. Azula allowed herself to smile slightly before taking another sip and closing her eyes. She breathed out and relaxed as the teas warmth spread through her. She stood up and set the cup down before stretching her legs and getting them used to moving again. After a few moments, Azula paced the room and nodded in satisfaction before sipping more of her tea. She breathed out some more before going through a peaceful kata. Where Firebending forms had fast, aggressive and powerful motions, the one she was using was the opposite. Her Tessenjutsu forms. In the months she'd been on Remnant, she found the style of the Kyoshi Warriors was rather relaxing. Currently, she was using the gentler forms to stretch her muscles and allow herself to get blood flowing properly into her legs.

After a few minutes, Azula finished her forms and her tea and placed the ceramic cup in the pot for ease of carry and exited the room after changing into her clothes. As she exited, she bumped into Weiss and landed on top of her, faces inches apart. "G-get off," exclaimed the Heiress with a crimson face.

"Why are you here?"

"I-I came to check up on you. We're teammates, after all."

"Why don't I believe you then?"

"Because you're a coldhearted bitch?"

"Well I suppose it takes one to know one."

"I'm coldhearted?!"

"You make me seem like an autumn breeze."

"At least I'm not a scary fire breathing dragon of a woman!"

"No, you're a frigid ice harpy who would freeze any man who tries to get close to her."

"Cold blooded reptile!"

"Shrill heart stopping banshee!"

"Having a lover's quarrel, are we," asked Zane above them. They looked up and spotted Zane, Radiance and Ruby, the latter of whom was staring at the two girls with some trepidation.

"Keep talking Ro'Meave, and I'll burn what little of your face I can see."

"Why'd you stop that," asked Radiance. "She was just about to kiss her!" Azula and Weiss blushed darkly before both girls scrambled to their feet. Ruby blushed as well at the implications as Zane shook his head.

"I am surrounded by nitwits."

"Hey," exclaimed the Princess and Heiress. Ruby and Radiance said nothing, Ruby because she was imagining Azula and Weiss kissing and Radiance because she half agreed with Zane and would punch him later for insulting her.

"You two are so similar it's frightening. Can we get going now?"

"Not until you pay for that nitwit comment," said Weiss.

"For once, I agree."

"I believe Azula has something she wanted to tell us before her little episode," said Zane, not intimidated by the two girls in front of him. "We should get your other teammates and JNPR and head back to Ozpin's office. Can we please hurry this up? I need to get to work at the café."

"Fine."

"And keep the teapot, Agni. A gift from my sensei." Azula grunted before walking on ahead, the thought of kissing Weiss running in her head and her face slightly turning red as she did. "By the way." He turned to Radiance as the other three walked ahead. "Who was trying to kiss whom?"

"Yes," said Radiance.

"You're not going to give me a clear answer, are you?"

"Not on your life, Jessie."

"Stop calling me that!"

"I'll call you whatever I want ya bassa!" Zane groaned.

"If my school life is going to be this aggravating all the time, kill me now."

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Azula had told the three teams her true history and Ozpin showed them the footage of her arrival in the Emerald Forest with Zane looking away as her body was first revealed from the ground and Nora covering Ren and Jaune's eyes. Azula stood calmly beside the headmaster and Glynda as she assessed the group in front of her. She tried gauging each of their reactions based on their states of shock and disbelief. Ruby, ever the optimist, broke the heavy silence first. "Oh my god," she exclaimed. Azula grunted as the young reaper tackled her to the ground in excitement. "One of my partners is an alien!"

"Stop strangling me," demanded Azula as she tried to pull Ruby's arms from around her neck.

"If I hadn't seen that," said Weiss. "I would've thought everything we just heard an elaborate lie."

"Why tell us now," asked Zane. "You had all this time, why now?"

"Her Lien was stolen by a hacker who had a secret camera in this office," said Radiance. "They knew her secret and since she doesn't know enough about this world and I'm blinder than a bat, we needed help trying to get to the hacker that did this."

"I still don't get why…"

"I needed you to trust me," said Azula as she held Ruby at arm's length. "This felt the only option."

"You needed us to trust you," asked Blake. "Or you needed to know you could trust us?" Azula sighed.

"Both, I suppose. Since I arrived in this world, things have been so different for me. I've had to change to adapt, learn to temper myself and not be… like I was. I had to observe more and distance myself less to achieve what I wanted, blending in."

"I'd imagine not being waited on hand and foot was a real eye opener," said Zane.

"It would be the second time I would see this happen. The first being on Ember Island in the Fire Nation. I was there with my… friends… and my brother for a sort of vacation and no one knew who I was. It was… unnerving. Until then, everyone in the Fire Nation had known who I was, or at least in the Fire Palace."

"No doubt feeding to your ego," said Blake.

"I'll admit, I'm a bit of a narcissist. Having people know who I was at first glance was acceptable and enjoyable. When no one at Ember Island knew me it was… intriguing. And… embarrassing. When I behaved how I normally would, people gave me looks of… annoyance and disdain. It didn't click then that people… normal people… didn't act like I did. So I reacted the only way I knew how, like my father."

"That explains some of your behavior," said Yang.

"When Ty Lee and Mai betrayed me… no… when they protected me from myself, I snapped." Azula rubbed her arm as she felt slightly uncomfortable. All these eyes were on her and she could only see the same three emotions, shock, sadness, and from Weiss, familiarity. "I started to see a pattern. The more I behaved like my father, the more I started controlling people who did not want to be controlled, who were not soldiers or who were completely defiant, the less control I saw I really had. I…"

"You couldn't think of a different way of doing things," said Weiss. "You never interacted with normal people who weren't near you out of a sense of fear or obligation because of who you were related to." Azula didn't need to look at Weiss to hear the recognition the heiress had on that front.

"What happened to your mother," asked Ruby. Azula grimaced slightly before turning from the group to look out of the clock face window.

"I don't know. And… I couldn't care less."

"Why?"

"Despite this change, I still believe my mother only saw me as a monster. I behaved how my father wanted, acted in my own self-interests, following his example. And I saw the look in her eyes whenever I did. When my cousin died, I thought my mother would be happy if it meant that Father would be Fire Lord since my grandfather was most likely going to disown my uncle Iroh." Azula failed to notice Zane's sudden jerk at the mention of the name, but Radiance managed to catch a glimpse of a wizened old man with a long grey beard, one that matched the image in Azula's mind. Radiance shot a look at Zane who tried to calm his mind and glared at Radiance, feeling like she managed to get a glimpse of his memories. Radiance pushed him away from the group without them knowing and glared at him.

"You know your glare is entirely unnerving," said Zane under his breath.

"You know Iroh," Radiance stated in a whisper.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play stupider with me, Ro'Meave. I saw the image of her uncle in your mind when you should have no idea what the hell he looks like. What's he doing here?!"

"He's here to help guide her, now shut up."

"Guide her?"

"The Spirits knew she would go through a lot of changes in this world because of the difference in scenery and lifestyle here. Those changes would make her question exactly why she was chosen for this and she might fully reject the notion of being a Guardian. Iroh guided her brother to better understand the balance within himself, he can do the same for Azula. They used the Spirit of Time to send him here two years ago. This is his second life. And his last."

"Meaning when his time is up here…"

"It's up for good. Sensei has been through a lot. He deserves rest. You will not mention a word of this to Azula. If she feels that Iroh is here as a manipulation from the Spirits, it may bring out the worst of her."

"And if she learns we've been lying, which she will about you, there will be hell to pay."

"I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Now can we please get back to the discussion?" Radiance glared before walking back to the others.

"Can we please leave this for another day," asked Azula as she finally turned back to the group. "Right now, I need your assistance."

"With the hacker," asked Yang.

"Yes. It occurs to me that whoever this L is, they've been watching me almost exclusively. Which means they probably know everything I can do. I want to find him and make him pay for stealing from me. But I don't know anything about this world. I need… help."

"That must've been hard," said Blake.

"You have no idea. I'm used to just ordering people around. Actually asking is… new to me."

"To be fair," said Jaune. "You didn't exactly…" Jaune spotted the warning glares from Weiss and Radiance. "Never mind."

"No. You're right. I didn't ask. I just… stated." Azula took a long breath before getting to her knees and bowing her forehead to the floor, lower than she's ever bowed in her life to her father. "Please. Will all of you help me?" Radiance leaned against the wall as she 'stared' at each of the students in the room while Ozpin quietly sipped his coffee.

"Of course we'll help you, Azula," said Ruby as she moved to her co-captain and put her hand on Azula's shoulder. "Right guys?" She looked at her team expectantly and Weiss sighed.

"I can't exactly leave you two alone," she said. "You'd probably let Azula wreck half the town helping her get her revenge."

"Retribution," said Azula. "It's cleaner."

"That doesn't make me feel better. Which just means I'll have to keep an eye on both of you."

"If Ruby's in," said Yang. "So am I." Ruby looked at Blake who stared at Azula for a moment. Azula looked up at her and the secret cat Faunus sighed as she shook her head.

"Fine," said Blake.

"You know my answer," said Radiance. "Jessie?" Zane growled before turning to Azula.

"It would mean getting some experience with working with you two," he said. "Fine."

"We're in," said Jaune, Pyrrha and Nora nodding behind him.

"So," said Ozpin. "Do you have a plan for finding this 'L'?"

"Radiance said one of the Malachite Twins is known for hacking herself," said Azula.

"Who's that," asked Yang. Radiance chuckled and caught her attention. "What?"

"You've actually met them before," she said. "You fought them when you went to Junior's looking for information and wrecked the place."

"Oh, them! Wait, we're going to Junior's?"

"That's right," said Azula. Yang smirked.

"I can get us in."

"We should keep that interaction small," said Azula. "I think they remember you just fine."

"How do you know?"

"That's where I met Radiance. And they had a picture of you in the back. They gave you horns, a goatee and a thin curled mustache drawn in red ink. Like how you draw Weiss on occasion."

"Does he now?!" Azula smirked as Yang's eyes turned red. "Then we should pay him a visit."

"Radiance, you wait here. I'll go with Yang alone. I doubt her vehicle can fit more than two. The rest of you, wait for me to tell you where to go and meet us at the location."

"Try not to make too much trouble," cautioned Glynda. Azula smiled at her and the whole group felt a bit unnerved.

"Whatever do you mean? We're just going to have a chat with some old friends."

"I think I'm more scared of her now than I was before," said Pyrrha as Azula and Yang left.

"What happened," asked Radiance before waving in front of her face to Ruby.

"Azula smiled. It was kind of creepy."

"Ah. Thank goodness I can't see. Her sadistic smile is unnerving."

"This smile was more 'sweet' than sadistic," said Weiss. Radiance shuddered at the thought of Azula coming across as sweet and innocent. Someone as sinister as her should not labeled as sweet.


	9. A Sense of Normalcy

Azula couldn't hide the smile on her face as she removed the helmet Yang lent her and she fixed her hair. "You know," said Yang. "I've never seen you genuinely smile before."

"Father always ensured I behaved how royalty should in his eyes. Confidant, reserved, never showing my emotions to anyone. Not even myself. When I was sick, I had… I guess you can say visions of how I could've been had Mother not allowed Father to get his hands on me. I was happy. But hindsight is always 20/20." Azula messed with one of the bangs that always draped her face as they walked to the entrance to the currently closed club. "I… I will have moments where I will slip into old habits. If that happens…"

"I'll be sure to knock some sense into you." Yang punched the palm of her hand with a grin.

"Well considering that is all you're good for."

"Hey!"

"Sorry. That and acting as a lifesaver with your ample features." Azula smirked at her and Yang scoffed before pushing her lightly.

"So you _can_ make jokes."

"I can. My jokes have always been more mean spirited and targeted to specific features you may find irksome. Like your temper."

"Why?"

"Making you feel smaller than myself was something I did to feed my ego. Ruby wasn't affected by anything I said to her along those lines."

"Ruby sees the best in everyone. She probably thought you didn't mean anything you said."

"It was annoying and…"

"And what?"

"Ruby reminds me of my mother, Ursa, that way. I always thought of it as her hiding what she truly thinks and feels."

"Not everyone is hiding something."

"Something I'm slowly starting to accept. My trust in people has been dulled significantly since most people only treated me a certain way because I was a princess."

"Well, now you've got people to treat you as equals." Yang wrapped her in a one-armed hug and Azula struggled in her grip.

"I do not want to suffocate in your oversized milk bags! Let go!"

"Just for that, you get a bigger hug!"

"Spirits, let go!"

"Oh crap," exclaimed a thug who was on a smoke break and started running to the doors. Azula threw one of her fans and smirked as it embedded in the door beside the man's face.

"Now, where are you going, I wonder?" The thug turned around, face pale as Yang let Azula go. He gulped as he stared into pairs of golden and red eyes as Azula pulled her fan from the glass. "Is Junior in?" He nodded, sweat dripping down his face.

"Thanks," exclaimed Yang with a smile as her eyes shifted back to lavender in color while Azula led the way in, leaving the thug to slink to the ground as he tried slowing his beating heart. "Boo!"

"Gah-hah," exclaimed the thug as Yang scared him before he ran from the club. Screw Junior! Those two were scary!

"Nice to see I'm not the only one with a scary streak," said Azula.

"When it suits me." Yang went to the bar and scrounged through the bottles under the shelf. "You want anything before we go confront him?"

"Don't bother with that. They're all watered down swill anyways."

"You're right!" Yang smirked as she took a top shelf bourbon and brought out two glasses as Azula sat at a chair as two thugs entered from the back and spotted the two who put the fear of the gods into them with just one appearance.

"Hello, gentlemen. One of you be a dear and fetch Junior, would you? And don't worry. This is going on Radiance Aiden's tab."

"Gav," said one of the thugs.

"Yeah, Tre," asked the other.

"Why do we work here again?"

"We're waiting," said Yang as she poured both of them a drink. Azula emphasized her comment by lighting the top of her drink on fire with a finger. Gav and Tre bumped into each other as they scrambled to the back.

"To being scary," said Azula as Yang clinked their glasses together.

"You've had alcohol before, right?"

"Occasionally. I would either have a single glass of Fire Wine during Father's war meetings to keep up appearances. Or I would sneak a drink from his private sake."

"You stealing from your father?"

"It's not like he ever drank it. He saved it for when the Fire Nation would win the war. He never was one for pre-celebration ceremonies. Felt it was better saved for victory rather than to diminish the mind before a major engagement." Azula smirked as Junior rushed into the bar area followed closely by Gav and Tre.

"Blondie," said Junior as he schooled himself, slightly. "Creepy. W-what are you two doing here?"

"Creepy?"

"Well if the shoe fits," said Yang with a smirk, making Azula scowl at her.

"We're looking for the Malachite Twins, Junior."

"Uh…" he cleared his suddenly dry throat. "They're not here, right now."

"And where are they?"

"They're uh… visiting their mother in Mistral."

"And when will they be back?"

"Sometime next week. They don't exactly have passports."

"Then when they return, have them contact me. I assume you have Radiance's information?" Junior nodded as he swallowed. "Then have them contact her when they return. We know one of them is a hacker and require their services." Azula blew out the flames over her drink. "It's been pleasant, Junior. I expect to do business with you again in the future. Oh, and we'll be keeping the bottle." Yang smirked before putting the top back on the bottle as Azula downed her drink in one gulp and they walked out. Junior released the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding and glared at his two 'hired help'.

Azula made it precisely ten steps towards the motorcycle before going into a coughing fit, making Yang pat her on the back. "Stronger than you thought," she asked. Azula nodded as she clutched at her throat. "Come on, let's get you back to Beacon." Azula nodded as she got her coughing under control.

Radiance looked at the door from Azula's bed as she Zane and RWBY waited in RWBY's dorm. "Here they come," she said.

"Finally," said Zane as he came off the wall he was leaning on, idly messing with a knife he kept in his sleeve.

"How'd it go," asked Weiss as soon as the door opened.

"You're all drunk," exclaimed Azula as she hung off Yang's arm, pointing at everyone in the room; face flushed and speech slurring slightly.

"She had one drink," said Yang.

"You let her drink," exclaimed Zane.

"It was just bourbon!"

"You realize alcoholic beverages are more potent because modern technology allows for better fermentation processes, right," asked Weiss.

"Well now I do." Zane shook his head as he massaged his temples and swatted Azula's hand away from poking his cheek, trying to remove his mask after she stumbled to him.

"Ruby," said Radiance with a grin. "Record this for me, please."

"But you can't see," said the silver-eyed reaper.

"Doesn't mean I can't lord this over her in the future! And JNPR should see this as well!"

"The Twins are in Mistral right now," said Yang. "They'll be back in a week."

"Great," said Zane. "So this was all for nothing."

"Not for nothing. We get to see this." She pointed to Azula who was petting Blake, making the normally silent girl blush from the feeling.

"Good kitty," she said with a drunken smile.

"Please make her stop," said Blake.

"But this is gold," exclaimed Radiance with a grin as she had Ruby record the Firebender's behavior. Azula grunted as she fell onto Blake's bed as Blake used her shadow to escape.

"I'm leaving," said Zane. "Let me know when you're going after L."

"See ya," said Yang with a grin. Zane grunted as he walked past her and made his way to the café he worked at.

* * *

**(Tantra Tiger Tea Shop and Cafe)**

"How is my niece," asked Iroh.

"Awake," said Zane. "And drunk."

"Drunk?"

"Don't ask." Zane looked at him. "She's different. Not as… hostile."

"I had hoped that Ursa would've served as a good example for Azula as she grew up. I had not anticipated that my brother's hold over her was as strong as it was. If I had the chance to redo things in my former life, one would be how my brother raised his children. They could have lived happy lives."

"And instead they ended up hating each other," said Zane. The masked boy sighed. "Sometimes it feels that way with my own brother."

"Your brother does not hate you anymore than you do him, Zane. One squabble does not breed as much hostility as Azula and Zuko had for each other. They were pitted against each other for years. You had one fight and are currently not speaking with one another. With time you will mend your bond with one another. But for now, you must let your anger ease and simmer down."

"I hope you're right, Sensei." Zane shook his head before facing his instructor. "What are we learning today?"

"How to properly brew gyokuro tea!" Zane sighed before walking to the back of the shop.

"I'll grab my apron." Iroh smirked before pulling out the only thing the Spirits allowed him to take with him. A Pai Sho tile with one side being the White Lotus and the other a blue flame, an alteration made by the Spirits when they sent him here years ago.

"I wonder what it is, you will have to face, Azula. And if you will ever be ready to face it."

* * *

**(Beacon Academy)**

The next day, Azula growled as she sipped at the coffee Weiss made for her hangover as Radiance had Ruby show Team JNPR and Velvet the footage they recorded of her. Nora cracked up as Pyrrha and Velvet tried to control their own amusement at the display. "Shut. It. Off," said Azula with barely contained embarrassment and anger.

"Not yet," said Radiance. "This is the best part."

"I… am Catbug," exclaimed the recording of Azula, making the girls lose control of their laughter. Ren chuckled softly to himself as Jaune nervously moved behind Nora as Azula growled louder.

"That's enough," shouted the real Azula. Ruby jumped and turned off the recording before hiding her scroll. Azula rubbed her temples as her shouting made her headache worse. "Had I known your alcohol was stronger than my home's I wouldn't have drank at all."

"Well that's your own fault, isn't it," asked Velvet with a slight giggle. Azula glared at her slightly before taking another sip at her coffee.

"Keep laughing, Little Rabbit. I'll be sure to make you pay in the future."

"You don't scare me, Sapphire."

"Sapphire?"

"Because of your flames."

"Sad to say but…" Azula held up her hand and dark red flames appeared. "Recent changes to my mental stature have changed the color of my fire. It will take me time before I can bring its blue hue back."

"Well Sapphire is still your nickname for me." Azula smiled slightly at her before finishing her coffee.

"Present time," exclaimed Ruby with a smile as she and Yang shoved the still unopened presents in front of Azula on the table in the dining hall as well as a freshly made cake, not made by Ruby. Azula blinked as Ruby shoved a small box into her hands.

"Must I do this now?" She looked at Ruby and found her staring expectantly with eyes wide with anticipation. Azula sighed. "I'll open them later, Ruby. And I doubt a cake is for break…"

"It's always a good time for cake!" Azula rubbed her temples and glared at Ruby for shouting. "Sorry."

"Fine. I'll have one slice if it means you stop shouting." Ruby smiled and cut Azula a slice of cake.

"What's going on over here," asked an arrogant voice behind them. Azula noticed Velvet recoil slightly behind Yang, knowing exactly who was just speaking.

"It's of none of your concern, Winchester. This cake is to celebrate my birthday. Leave or I'll burn you."

"Oh, come on." Cardin placed his hand on the table in front of her and Jaune backed away slightly from the leader of Team CRDL. "You can give us one slice! We're friends after all. Right, Jaune?"

"R-right," said Jaune.

"Is that so," said Azula before she jabbed a knuckle into pressure points in Cardin's side. Cardin shouted as his body fell limp on the ground. "It's funny, Winchester. You may have become friends with Jaune, but I don't remember extending the same conversation." Azula pressed her foot on his pelvis and Cardin groaned as she kept her spot in her seat. "I am suffering from a migraine at the moment, and your presence is making it worse. Also, there's something about you I find excruciatingly annoying. But, I'm not unreasonable. Since you claim to be a friend of Jaune, I will give you a slice of cake." Azula dropped the slice onto Cardin's face and increased the pressure from her boot while glaring at the rest of CRDL. Cardin whined in dog tones before Azula moved her boot and smooshed the cake in his face. She turned to CRDL. "You should take him to the infirmary. He may need some major medical treatment." Azula moved her boot back and slammed the heel on him. Cardin shouted in pain and CRDL dragged him from the mess hall.

"That wasn't called for," said Pyrrha.

"I don't know what you mean, Pyrrha." Azula looked at her after cutting herself another slice of cake. "I was simply being kind. I would think a 'friend' of your leader would deserve nothing less, wouldn't you agree?" Pyrrha held her gaze for a moment and looked away. _'That and Velvet was getting equally as uncomfortable. I need to speak with her about that.'_ Azula coughed as she swallowed the cake and pulled out a long piece of blonde hair before glaring at Yang who chuckled nervously.

"Guess you weren't kidding when you said certain things wouldn't change," said Radiance.

"Of course it wouldn't. Only my worst aspects have diminished. Being ruthless to those I cannot stand will never change. Not unless I somehow end up sharing a mind with Ruby. And now that I've said that, I shudder to think what goes on in her mind."

"Hey," whined Ruby as the former princess smirked, making the others chuckle slightly.

"I find it odd how we can identify your sense of humor now," said Weiss.

"It at least proves I have one," said Azula. "Unlike yourself."

"Hey!"

"She's kind of right, Weiss," said Nora. The heiress huffed and crossed her arms as Azula finished her drink, a can of green tea and looked at the can in her hands.

"I swear, you people know how to utterly ruin the taste of tea," she said.

"What do you mean," asked Blake.

"I think she's referring to the metallic taste tea has when drank from a can," said Ren.

"Thank you, Ren," said Azula. "At least the shop Zane works at knows good tea. It actually reminds me of home. When I was a child and actually happy."

"It does," asked Weiss. Azula nodded.

"My memories of those times are few, but I do remember a time when I actually got along and looked up to Zuzu. Then everything changed when my Firebending awakened and Father labeled me the 'prodigal child'."

"Well," said Velvet. "Now you have a new home and can make new memories."

"You sound almost as optimistic as Ruby, Little Rabbit."

"Well a little optimism never killed anyone." Velvet hugged Azula and smiled. "I need to meet up with my team. Care to spar a little later, Azula?"

"That would be preferable to these buffoons."

"Hey," exclaimed Weiss and Nora.

"I'm getting tired of beating them." Velvet giggled before walking away.

"Are you going to tell her," asked Radiance.

"Tell her what," asked Azula.

"Your startling revelation, of course," said Weiss. "We've seen she's a good friend to you." Azula set down her plate and sighed.

"I don't know. I chose to tell you all because I can easily keep my eyes on you, making sure you didn't tell anyone else. I can't do the same thing with Velvet."

"Nice to see you trust us," muttered Blake.

"Trust is earned, not given away like candy." Azula sighed. "I'm still trying to find my own path. You all know I don't trust easily. I need time to adjust, and while I wait for the Malachite's, would all of you mind helping me…"

"Act like a normal teenager," asked Yang. Azula sighed and nodded. "I got you! Gives me a chance to bring out Drunk Azula again!"

"Ruby, would you mind terribly if I burned your sister in her sleep?"

"Don't," said Blake. "I sleep under her and don't want to be burned myself."

"By the way, Blake. I was wondering if you knew any places that serve decent fish around here? I'm sure you've found the fish served here at school as distasteful as I do." Blake looked at her with a quirked eyebrow. "You'd be paying, of course. I don't have a lien to my name at the moment."

"…You'll be paying me back after we deal with L."

"Of course." She looked at them and glanced at the cake. "Are you expecting me to eat this myself and get as fat as Cardin's ego?"

"Nope," exclaimed Nora and Ruby with matching grins as they took their own slices of cake.

"Azula," said Zane as he walked over. "A word." Azula nodded and stood up before following him out of the dining hall.

"Make this quick. You're expected to clean up after everyone when the cake is done."

"I am not your…" Zane growled as Azula smirked at his agitation. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Oh, immensely. Now what is this about?" Zane sighed before kneeling before her. Azula smirked slightly.

"I, Zane Ro'Meave, swear my allegiance to you, Princess Azula of the Fire Nation. From here until you deem otherwise, my life is yours."

"Is that the oath of allegiance for warriors in this world?"

"For knights. And yes, it is."

"A bit showy, isn't it?"

"It's traditional."

"Also, your life is mine? It's like you want to be a butler."

"Would you take this seriously?!"

"I would. If my title mattered here. Or anywhere, for that matter. If I had lived, my title would've been revoked, and my claim to the Fire Throne as well."

"Be that as it may, you are still a princess by birth. As is tradition in my family, a knight must swear allegiance to a noble or royal we respect."

"You respect me?"

"I think I will come to. From what I've seen of you, you're an experienced leader, a talented fighter, and a master tactician from the sparring matches I've seen. Any knight would consider you an excellent liege."

"Well then. I accept your fealty, Ro'Meave. But know this. Betray me in any way, and I will kill you. Your life is mine, after all."

"Of course, Your Grace." Azula smirked.

"You've no idea how much that pleases me. Come on, let's get back to the others."

"Of course."

"And get me some good tea. I can't enjoy my cake without it. And do make sure you're not the one to make it. I want tea. Not the hot water you tried to pass as tea at the shop."

"I will make sure about that…" Azula smirked as she noticed he was trying his hardest not to seem agitated.

"And while you're at it, find yourself a change of clothes. One suiting of a butler."

"I AM NOT YOUR BUTLER!" Azula chuckled.

"And there's the reaction I wanted. Do try not to be formal around me. I need a sense of commoner normalcy, not royalty, if I'm to change. I actually _do_ want to change. Father's way broke me. I'll never be able to think like my mother. I need my own way."

"Then I'll help you to the best of my abilities, Azula."

"Thank you." Azula stepped back in and felt water splash over her head as a bucket fell on her and the sound of Nora and Radiance laughing echoed in the dining hall.

"When did they do that?" Zane looked at the bucket and noticed steam pouring out from under it.

"Ah, shite," said Radiance. "She feels angry…"

"Maybe you should run. She's literally steaming."

"You have three seconds," said Azula as she pulled the bucket off her head. "To GET OVER HERE!"

"Run," exclaimed Nora as she bolted for the back exit.

"I cannot see, you traitor," said Radiance. "I need you nearby to guide me with your thoughts!" Zane shook his head as Azula chased after them.

* * *

**(Tantra Tiger Tea Shop and Café)**

Iroh tended to his pot of ginseng when he heard the bell to his shop ring. "Welcome to the Tantra Tiger," he called. "I'll be right with you. I'm just finishing up a pot of ginseng!"

"Take your time, old man," said a voice from the front. "It's not like anyone is willing to come into this dump in the first place." Iroh frowned before making his way to the front of his shop and seeing a tall man with red hair in a white coat and black bowler hat alongside a short girl with pink and brown hair and matching eyes in white knee high boots and a white coat with pink cuffs over a brown shirt and black pants.

"I'm sorry. But I don't serve criminals in my shop. You should find service elsewhere, Mr. Torchwick."

"No need to be rude, now! I just came to see what this place was like! It has a sort of… rustic look. Not my cup of tea, though, pardon the pun. What do you think, Neo?" The girl made a gesture of thinking for a moment before sticking out her tongue in disgust. Iroh looked at the girl and noticed the gesture was more for the sake of her companion than actual opinion. The wizened man sighed before walking over to them.

"I know why you're here. You think I will comply with your demands and pay a 'protector's fee' I've heard the other shop owners speak about. You've been taking up more and more territory from what I understand."

"Well aren't we perceptive! That's right, old man. And you'll find my prices are very… FAIR!" Roman exclaimed as Iroh simply knocked the man off balance while disarming him all at once. Iroh examined the cane in his hand before offering it to Neo who took it gingerly as she processed just how quickly he had taken Roman down.

"Allow me to save you your time and breath. I will not pay your 'protection fee', Mr. Torchwick. I'm not as feeble as other old men. Now I suggest you go." Torchwick glared at Iroh before scrambling to his feet and taking back his cane.

"You will regret not taking my offer, old man. Come on, Neo!" Torchwick left the shop and Neo moved to follow when Iroh stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and was met with a kind smile.

"You know," he said as he handed her a small box. "I much prefer the black hair and green eyes you normally come in here with." Iroh went back to his kitchen. Neo blushed lightly at being recognized and opened the box she was given. Inside was a few bags of chamomile green tea and a few small cookies, her normal order. She smiled before leaving the shop after her boss and friend.


End file.
